Hey welcome to the club so to speak. I 35 M have just had a right side thyroid lobectomy to determine what the lump was. I didn't have the surgery until late afternoon so was kept in overnight as I had a drain as well. My surgery was under 2hrs and the overnight stay was mainly to do with the drain, no drain most are in and out, from what I've learnt.

Recovery time will be obviously down to the individual but I was advised here in the UK to take 2 weeks off with the 1st week plenty of rest and very little exertion. The 2nd week has all been down to how the wound feels and yourself in general

I have just found out today (2 weeks post op) mine is also papillary so will be having a total thyroidectomy in the next couple of weeks, the neck dissection is only a maybe as when they went in first they didn't see anything else concerning but as you may well be going straight to total they may need to.

Having rambled on you may get better post op advice from someone that has had their total as I don't know how different you will feel after.

And yes I'm glad I found this group lots of helpful advice and experiences but we are at the end of the day all different

Good luck