Question Diving after robotically assisted thoracic surgery?

[BORG]

Hi guys,
I had thyroid cancer back in 2020 and had my thyroid removed. After 4 radioactive iodine treatments, my thyroglobulin levels had remained high.
I had a CT scan back in May and it showed a small mass, smaller than a golf ball, under my sternum, which was some of the remnants of the thyroid cancer cells. I am scheduled to have robotically assisted thoracic surgery on June 27th to remove this mass from under my sternum and this should end this issue once and for all, since this mass is contained and has not spread according to the Dr.
My question, what is a rough estimate of how long should I wait to resume diving after the small incisions are healed?

 

[pauldw]

As I am not your physician, I cannot offer this advice.

 

[jt15550]

Your surgeon will be able to offer advice on this. I had a thyroidectomy in 2015 for the same reason, and it has not affected my diving. Good luck with the surgery.

 

[Doctorfish]

Lot's of variables here. Is the planned procedure, sternotomy, mediastinoscopic approach or Video Assisted (VATS) approach? All have different recovery times. Any breach of the pleura, planned or unexpected, resulting in a pneumothorax, would also delay return to diving.

A mediastinal recurrence, which this sounds like, might also require post op radiation if the tumor has de differentiated and/or extended. This would not be determined completely until final pathology is available post op.

I wouldn't personally book any dive trips yet.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi guys,
I had thyroid cancer back in 2020 and had my thyroid removed. After 4 radioactive iodine treatments, my thyroglobulin levels had remained high.
I had a CT scan back in May and it showed a small mass, smaller than a golf ball, under my sternum, which was some of the remnants of the thyroid cancer cells. I am scheduled to have robotically assisted thoracic surgery on June 27th to remove this mass from under my sternum and this should end this issue once and for all, since this mass is contained and has not spread according to the Dr.
My question, what is a rough estimate of how long should I wait to resume diving after the small incisions are healed?

Concur with the other posters in that this is a conversation best had with the surgeon after the surgery. As @Doctorfish alluded to, the post-operative results may not reflect the pre-operative picture.

Best regards,
DDM