How to Recover From a Total Thyroidectomy

Your thyroid--located at the base of your neck--is responsible for a lot of the aspects of your health. The thyroid helps regulate your hormones, so it affects everything from your metabolism to the speed of your heart rate. A thyroidectomy removes all or part of your thyroid. Reasons for this removal include cancer, enlargement of the thyroid and an overactive thyroid. Recovery from a thyroidectomy is different for everyone depending on how much of the thyroid is removed.

Things You'll Need

• Medication

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Instructions

• 1

  Take note of your symptoms after your thyroidectomy. Most people are hoarse and may have a sore throat. Both are normal and only last a few days. Sometimes the tube inserted during surgery to maintain breathing is the cause of a sore throat or hoarseness.

• 2

  Change the way you eat after thyroid surgery. Because of soreness in the throat, you'll be put on a liquid diet for 24 to 72 hours after throidectomy. This includes soft foods like applesauce and drink supplements that contain your daily intake of vitamins to stay healthy and strong. After that time, you should be able to return to your usual diet.

• 3

  Discuss your medication options with your doctor. If your whole thyroid has been removed, you'll usually be required to take medication every day. That's because your body no longer has a thyroid and can't make the thyroid hormone. Your body will often show the signs and symptoms of an underactive thyroid. You'll need to take daily medication that contains the thyroid hormone thyroxine, according to the Mayo Clinic. Your doctor will determine the amount you need to take.

• 4

  Talk to your doctor about caring for your incision after surgery. Get instructions on how to reapply a new bandage and how often you should do it, as well as applying any ointments to the incision.

• 5

  Make a follow-up appointment with your doctor. You'll need to see your doctor regularly after a thyroidectomy. This is to help make sure you are taking the right amount of medication and receiving the right amount of calcium and vitamin D. If your whole thyroid was removed, your parathyroid, which affects your body's amount of calcium and vitamin D, will also be affected.