What happens after surgical treatment of thyroid cancer?
Once surgery is complete and the entire thyroid gland is removed with or without a central neck compartment dissection, then the patient is usually observed overnight in the hospital to make sure their calcium levels are stable before discharge and also to make sure there are no bleeding or breathing issues. The patient is then allowed to heal at home on a low iodine diet and thyroid hormone replacement pills (Synthroid or Cytomel) until 4-6 weeks after surgery when their endocrinologist schedules him/her for radioiodine scanning to detect any microscopic residual cells as well as to evaluate for regional or distant metastases. If this scan is positive, then the patient will have radioactive iodine (RAI) ablation of any microscopic residual thyroid cancer cells. RAI involves the patient being admitted to the hospital and given a radioactive dose of Iodine-131 to ablate these residual cancer cells. This is done in a hospital setting as the patient may be radioactive to family members fo
