They let me go home shortly after I woke up. I felt pretty good -- pain was minimal (didn't even really need the hydrocodone they prescribed). I thought I would sleep the rest of the day but was up hanging with family and watching movies until a fairly normal bedtime.

One addition to what I had posted earlier, in case you haven't already planned to ask -- I would ask the surgeons if they would plan to remove any lymph nodes to send to pathology, and if so, how they would make the determination of which ones and from where. I bring this up because I learned yesterday that the two lymph nodes that were removed during my surgery were hitchhikers on the parathyroid gland that was removed with my left lobe. They were so small (.02 cm!) that the surgeon didn't even see them. One of them had a small amount of cancer in it. Since he did not take any other lymph nodes (I presume because he thought my little nodule was so contained) we have no way of knowing if that one tiny lymph node was the only one with cancer cells in it or if there are others still in there. So now I may need to have a second surgery.

So bottom line, since its not uncommon for spread to the lymph nodes, is there anything they will do beyond the removal (or partial removal) of the gland to maximize the chances of removing all of the cancer the first time around? Do they only take them if they look suspicious or do they spot check lymph nodes to be safe? Are there any other diagnostic tests/scans that can help them rule out that any lymph nodes are involved? I wish I had asked more of these questions before surgery. It may be a non-issue for you, but I think having this information could contribute to peace of mind post-surgery.

To @erickauch 's point, definitely yes on the anti-nausea meds in the cocktail. They did it for me and I was not sick afterward.