Partial thyroidectomy should I do it? How long off from work?

I had 1/2 of my thyroid out.. the quick frozen section looked at by path while I was still in OR was negative, so the other side was left in. When I went to get my stitches out , the final path said I had follicular thryoid cancer and I had to go back in to surgery to have the rest of the thryoid removed. Not fun.
You could prob go back to work in 3 days, but anesthesia makes you very tired and it takes the body time to eliminate it from all your cells. And the tube that is in your throat during surgery can irritate the throat and make it uncomfortable to talk a lot .
I had a small tube in my in the lower neck (called a jackson pratt) to collect blood for about a week. If you have that you will prob not want to work but you could.
Wishing you well. There is a support group Thyca.org you could join for more questions/answers.

@twintwo2 great question and I wonder too! Here's my story, I apologize for the length, but if what I'm going through resonates with anyone else, and maybe helps, that's all that matters! What I do know is that since having CoVid in winter 2020, the first vaccine in April 2021, the second vaccine in late 2021, I was not feeling good at all. I was in and out of the doctor constantly with a lot of neck, leg and back pain, exhaustion, eye issues, digestive issues, headaches, dizziness, chronic cough, stiffness, etc. After marginal results from my Rheumatologist's recommendations, I went to a functional medicine doctor in late summer 2021 who diagnosed me with Hashimoto's along with several deficiencies. They put me on a no gluten diet, low sugar, and supplements and I kind of started to feel better, but not completely. I was also exercising 3-4 times per week and always felt exhausted during and afterward. My mom suddenly was ill in summer 2022 with Lung cancer that has metastasized to several organs, I was her primary caretaker, so I put my health on the back burner for a while. She passed within 4 months, and I head to the doctor in early 2023 with enhanced symptoms. I finally had a chest Xray for pneumonia and ended up finding the nodule in my thyroid. Ended up getting diverticulitis in April 2023, which landed me in the hospital for 5 days, came out had the FNA, then ended up with CDif, hospitalized again for 4 days in May, FNA showed Hurthle Cell Neoplasm and differentiated papillary cells in middle of May, ended up with CDif again, this time treated at home. Decided to get the TT end of June primarily because of the Hashimoto's and the fact that Hurthle Cell could spread through blood vessels, and I didn't want to go through surgery twice. Got CDif again! Lab results of thyroid showed Hurthle (Oncocytic) Cell Carcinoma. Thank goodness I got it all out. By summer 2024, a hiatal hernia that was small to medium sized, had grown to extremely large (felt like overnight) and I had to get fundoplication surgery and hiatal hernia repair in late August 2024. Now, here I am 22 months since TT and unfortunately, I feel awful. Not sure what is going on but tons of pain, auto immune issues, my arthritis is way worse than it has ever been and is progressing fast, I have a lot of stiffness, sometimes numbness and tingling in my extremities, digestive issues, exhaustion, (difficulty sleeping), low iron, headaches, dizziness, the list goes on. I just went through two rounds of antibiotics for an infection they believe was in my lymph nodes and causing crazy neck pain (not completely gone). I've been in and out of physical therapy, physical med doctor, received prednisone packs, cortisone shot, nothing seems to keep the pain from subsiding. Scans show my arthritis has progressed rapidly in my spine, etc. It has actually stopped me from exercising like I was (which I love and is unlike me -used to be a personal trainer). Seeing the functional medicine doc again this week. I'm sharing this because I don't know if CoVid and or the vaccine have created these things or progressed any disease I may have had pre-CoVid. Scary thought to say the least. But I do know my health issues have gotten way worse since having CoVid and the two vaccines. It also could just be my body and a timely coincidence. My poor husband doesn't know what to do with me. I have a high tolerance for pain and am pretty high energy, so I can push through every day. I work full time and still have two kids at home, one with learning challenges and a very busy schedule. Anyway, I hope this information maybe helps anyone who is also thinking they might be going through anything similar and is looking for a solution. And if you have any info or recommendations that could help, please share!!!! The more we know, the better we can figure out a plan moving forward. Thanks for reading 🙂 Wishing everyone better health and good results from their various treatments.

My surgeon asked if I would like the whole thyroid out. I said just half because no nodules in the right side. Now I have a nodule growing at about a mm per month. Going in for a biopsy tomorrow.

Fossfactor: I know this is scary for you. I just told myself how lucky I am living in this century where they can do surgery to remove the cancer and we have great medical treatments available to us. And I felt good about my surgeon. Wishing you well.

My slow growing Papillary cancer has been around in my left thyroid for ten years. My fast growing cancer just eight months. I have had Covid and took the jab. Afterwards couldn’t even fight a cold. I felt stiff and lack luster. Very difficult to excercise and extremely tired afterward. As a former long distant runner and swimmer this is frustrating. Trying to just swim three times a week is difficult.