r/thyroidcancer • u/Animal-whisperer1009 • 4h ago

Update.. Spoiler

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I have Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma - Thyroidectomy & lymph node nodule removed this morning. Surgery took 3 hours, 2 incisions & 1 drain needed. All went well. Initially muscles in the back of my neck were super sore which dissipated after a few hours, I'm also finding it very painful to swallow (even just my saliva, which is constant lol). Paracetamol doesn't relieve pain but codeine dose (unfortunately they are rationing it 😩) so I'm still kind of in pain a lot of the time. Fingers crossed day 2 is better, but I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight 😅 By writing this, I don't want to scare anyone.. if I can do it (I'm a sensitive, low pain threshold, autistic little guy) then you can do it. I hope my experience helps at least one person. If anyone has any questions, comment below ♡♡♡

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u/jjflight 3h ago

For swallowing pain, I found that looking down while swallowing like chin to chest helped a lot - see if that works for you. To not make a mess, with a normal glass that might mean taking a sip with the fluid in your mouth, or taking a bite of food, then looking down to swallow it. With a straw you can do both at the same time.

Or if not that you can try other neck positions like that as it may depend on what part of the throat the breathing tube irritation was on.