What to look for when you go home from the hospital after thyroid surgery

One, we should adjust our mentality and be positive, usually we can work normally after a month of rest at most, don’t be too anxious about our condition. Especially for patients who had thyroid cancer surgery, because 70% of Asians, including Chinese, have papillary cancer, as long as the surgery is standardized, the prognosis is very good and the recurrence rate is very low. Secondly, you should pay attention to your diet, eat food that is easy to swallow and easy to digest, avoid spicy and irritating food and overheated food, quit smoking and stay away from second-hand smoke. Third, within one month after surgery, there is often tightness in the neck, stuffiness, edema or pain at the incision, etc. This is normal, which is due to the mechanism of proliferation and tightening of the surgical incision when it heals, and it will slowly get better. Fourth, if there is choking on water or hoarseness, there is no need to panic, this is a symptom of paralysis of the superior laryngeal nerve or the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Most of them are caused by squeezing, contusion, pulling or edema compression during surgical operation. If the nerve is not cut during surgery, most of them recover completely in 1 to 3 months, or faster in some cases! During this period, in addition to paying attention to the above-mentioned diet, a liquid or semi-liquid diet should be the mainstay; usually talk less and take oral nerve-nourishing drugs to promote the recovery of nerve function. Fifth, patients who need to take oral eugenol should try to eat less seafood with high iodine content, such as kelp, sea vegetables, seaweed, nestle, etc., and consume non-iodized salt to avoid affecting the effect of eugenol in supplementing thyroxine deficiency and inhibiting thyroid stimulating hormone secretion (the main purpose of taking eugenol). The dosage of Eugenol should be adjusted by regular review of thyroid function according to the doctor’s prescription, because the dosage of Eugenol varies greatly among individuals, and avoid eating any seafood for one week before the thyroid function check. Six, whether thyroid cancer patients need 131 iodine internal radiation therapy or not, follow the medical advice about what should be noted for internal radiation therapy. Seven, be sure to follow up closely! Especially for thyroid cancer patients, it is better to review ultrasound every six months to detect new or recurring lesions.