thyroid
Surgery to remove the thyroid gland is the main treatment for thyroid cancer. You might hear the doctors talk about a thyroidectomy, which is the medical name for the operation. Sometimes the surgeon only needs to remove part of the thyroid.
lymph nodes
In the neck, close to your thyroid there are small lumps, about the size of peas, called lymph nodes. These are part of the body’s immune system and help fight infection. Sometimes cancer cells break away from the thyroid and are caught in lymph nodes, so the surgeon might remove some or all of them. They may also remove some tissue from the area around the thyroid if there are any cancer cells there.
You may feel scared by the thought of having an operation. But it does give a really good chance of a cure. Your specialist will talk things over with you in detail and make sure that you fully understand what’s involved. If you want to know more about what happens when you go in for an operation, there’s lots more information in the general surgery section.
