What do these surgeries involve?

Depending on the indications for the surgery, a thyroidectomy can be total or partial in which only a single lobe or portion of a lobe is removed. A thyroidectomy can be done through open surgery, through the mouth or endoscopically. Using the open approach, once you are under general anaesthesia, Dr Kruger will make a small incision in the front of the neck, in a skin crease where it will be difficult to see after the incision heals. From this angle your surgeon can access the thyroid gland directly. He will then remove either the entire thyroid gland or part of it before closing the incision with stitches.

What do these surgeries involve?

This type of breast surgery is deemed breast conserving. A lumpectomy is generally done through open surgery.  Once under general anaesthesia, a 2 to 5cm long incision is made by your surgeon to access and remove the tumour and the surrounding tissue. Removing a lump from the breast should not affect the shape and size of the breast and care is taken to make the incision as small as possible, in the least visible place.

This breast surgery involves the removal of the entire breast tissue. Under general anaesthesia, a much larger incision is made to remove all the breast tissue. You may wish to have a plastic surgeon join Dr Kruger in surgery to assist in the reconstruction of your breasts post-mastectomy.

With each of these surgeries, Dr Kruger will either biopsy or remove the lymph nodes as these small bean-shapes glands filter cancer cells that travel through the lymphatic fluid and may play a role in spreading cancer from the breast to other parts of the body. Therefore, after your lumpectomy or mastectomy, Dr Kruger will use a tracer to highlight the lymph node nearest to the affected breast. Once found he may biopsy this lymph node to test for the presence of cancer cells (known as sentinel lymph node biopsy) or remove all of lymph nodes (known as axillary node clearance).

What can I expect for recovery?

Recovery from either of these breast surgeries will be more than physical. Understanding that women undergoing these surgeries are in a particularly vulnerable state of mind, Dr Kruger aims to make his patients feel at ease and as comfortable as possible. Depending on which of the two surgeries was done, your recovery may differ. Pain and discomfort felt after a lumpectomy will be much less than that experienced after a mastectomy, however Dr Kruger will prescribe pain medication to cope. You can expect to be kept in hospital for observation for a night or two, and if you have had breast reconstruction this may be longer.

You may have drains placed in your incision sites during the operation to remove any excess fluid that can build up during healing. These drains will be removed in a day or two. Physiotherapy will be needed and is begun while you are still in hospital to prevent stiffness and swelling of the shoulder and arm on the side of the operation. While pain, itching and sensitivity in the breast area is normal after these surgeries, you should contact Dr Kruger should you have any symptoms of infection including fever, chills, vomiting, swelling and bleeding around the incisions. You should be able to return to your normal lifestyle in two weeks.  The tenderness should go away in about 2-3 days. Firmness and swelling in the breast may last for 3-6 months.