My name is Tess. I’m a 45-year-old writer living in Venice. I woke up one morning in January to discover a lemon-sized lump above my left clavicle. After receiving an ultrasound, my primary care physician diagnosed it as a multinodular goiter and referred me to an endocrinologist who took one look at me and proclaimed, “Well, that’s got to come out.” She referred me to Dr. Michael Yeh’s surgical department, and when I called I was directed to the UCLA website. Impressive. You read about Dr. Yeh first. This is clearly his department: he established the program, he’s the program director, he’s the guy with seemingly all the experience and all the buzz. It would make sense to want his capable hands in your neck. But here’s where luck in timing works out to my advantage. The doctor visits and referrals process was already 6 weeks and counting, and the growth in my neck was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable—pushing my trachea, interfering with my swallowing. Dr. Yeh didn’t have an opening for another month. But Dr. Harari could see me the following week. I did my due diligence and poked around. I liked what I’d read about her and what I was hearing from other doctors in the UCLA system. And I figured that if the guy who pioneered the whole department picked her to be on his team—that was good with me. So I made an appointment to meet with her… I think the best thing that I can say is that she’s a burst of light. Disarming in her approach: all smiles, totally present, amazingly open. In my first meeting with her she was thorough in her examination and thoughtful about her recommendation. She explained things again and again. She answered my questions, even the dumb ones. It’s a lot of information that can be daunting. Obviously you’re not going to hear it all once and I think she knows that. So she said it all again. And again. After I left, I felt uncomfortable about her recommendation and asked for another consultation. She not only encouraged me to come back in and helped me arrange an appointment, but greeted me like we were old friends. She said all the right things—that I had every right to question the procedure, that she’d remove only half my thyroid if I really wanted her to even though she recommended a total thyroidectomy (and explained all the possible repercussions of each), that she was particularly anal about scars and how to hide them… While friendly and compassionate, she still managed to be confident and forthright. And I felt not just at ease with her, but damn lucky to have found her. And so I opted to go with the total thyroidectomy because she felt so strongly about it. The surgery went a bit longer than expected because, as she explained bedside, “that thing was huge!” holding her hands to form the shape of an oblong grapefruit. But I was awake and alert after surgery, I was drinking liquids soon thereafter, I was texting my friends and family like a teenager in detention, I was up and shuffling like a geriatric patient to the recovery room bathroom, and I was free to go home after the 6-hour monitoring period. I had about three days of feeling like I’d been hit by a truck as the anesthesia worked its way out of my system. I did a light yoga class a week after surgery. I went for a 2-mile run on the beach at the 10-day mark, and by 2 weeks it all felt like yesterday’s news… Perhaps it seems like all this was nothing. I’ve neglected to mention the long nights of questioning and concern leading up to the surgery—particularly how much I struggled with removing a vital gland and being tied to a little pink pill for the rest of my life (no side effects or not). I’ll save the spiritual conundrums for the longer version of the story I tell my friends—what the throat chakra is all about and that I painted my toenails blue because it was the only thing I could take with me into surgery. This wasn’t easy. I feel too young to have gone through this. Certainly far too healthy. I didn’t sleep a lot. I did more than cry, I bawled in the most slobbering, can’t-catch-my-breath sense of the word. But the surgery itself and the recovery after was nothing in comparison. The little pink pill even ain’t so bad. And everything about Dr. Harari made me feel like all of it was necessary, it was perfect, and that I was safe in her capable, compassionate, tender hands.

My name is Janice I am 61 years old. I live in Harbor City, California.At first my weight drop down to 85lbs and I was diagnosed and treated for diabetes. I started having eye problems and went to several eye doctors before I was diagnosed with Graves disease a doctor in Santa Monica, referred me to the eye specialist at UCLA Westood the Jules Doris & Stein Eye Clinic. Then that DR. referrerd me to the Gonda Diabetes Endocrinology, Hypertention Center at UCLA. After taking many tests I was refered to Dr. Harari. Dr. Harari examined me and right away in the office she did a ultrasound, and then sent me to have a biopsy. After the results I was told I had a suspicious tumor and it needed to be removed. Dr. Harari was very kind considerate, caring, and comforting. I felt she was very professional showing concern and compassion explaing what to expect after during and after surgery. I really appreciated her making sure before surgery I had the right medication which I had a hard time finding. She did a great job on my surgery and my family was very satisfied with her taking care of me. Thank you DR.Harari.

I had a total thyroidectomy on Nov. 27, 2012 after dealing with a nodule that had doubled in size in two years. After several fine needle biopsies, it was determined that the nodule could be cancerous. In addition, other nodules, although benign, were found on the other side. Both my endocrinologist and Dr. Avital Harari, a confident, friendly, angel, left it up to me to decide whether I wanted a partial or total thyroidectomy. Since we would have needed to watch the remaining nodules carefully, and since I might have had to have those taken out at a later date, I opted to do the total at this time. Suffice it to say, my experience with Dr. Harari and the staff at Santa Monica-UCLA was exemplary. I did not have to stay over night and was, therefore, in the “short-stay” part of the hospital. Everyone could not have been more caring, from the parking attendant at 5:00 a.m. to the admissions staff to the pre-op nurse, the anesthesiology team, the OR nurse, the recovery nurses and everyone else. Post surgery, I did not have a sore throat, my voice was back to normal immediately, my scar is barely noticeable (Dr. Harari had stated that she was “anal” about trying not to leave a visible scar, and, believe me, partly, I suppose, because I had lines in my neck already there is virtually no scar) After a few days at home, I was ready to go shopping for holiday presents….got a bit tired…but was not debilitated. I took Vicodin for two days, Tylenol for two days, and nothing after that. If surgery can be a good experience, this was it!!! I thank the entire Endocrine Surgery department for making my whole experience the very best it could be.

My name is Brandie Johnson and I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Avital Harari.

From beginning to end was great experience with her. She was amazing! Before meeting with her I had been dealing with hyper and hypothyroid disease and also I have Graves disease. After 3 years of dealing with all the symptoms that come along with Graves disease, I considered surgery. From the first visit with Dr. Harari she was all smiles and educated me on if I chose surgery, what would most likely be the outcome. She would draw a diagram of what my thyroid looks like a what would be removed. Dr. Harari never rushed on our visits and always asked me if I had any questions she could answer. To be totally honest, if I had not met Dr. Harari I might not have followed through with surgery. She has a great energy when you meet her and she was highly recommended by my Endocronologist and my Internal Medicine doctor. Her Nurse Practioner, Jennifer was also great as well! She always returned my calls and accommodated my questions and concerns.

My fiance’ was nervous for me to have the surgery until he met Dr. Harari the day of surgery. She was so vibrant and positive. When she walked out the room he said “I feel confident after talking to her”.

Post surgery has been great! A few days after surgery I was up a moving around the house and feeling like the “old me” again.I did not think I would be this mobile so soon. It has been almost 3 weeks and I havent had any issues. My scar looks great and I am looking forward to it getting better in the future.

On the last visit I recently had with Dr. Harari to follow up post surgery. I asked her if this was my last time seeing her she said “yes”. I told her I could always have a visit with her because of her energy and knowledge. She is a amazing doctor. I cant thank her enough…

Sincerely,

Very Happy Patient (Brandie Johnson)

Dr. Harari performed a full thyroidectomy on me in April and I can’t even see the scar. She did a wonderful job. You couldn’t be in better hands with her. She used glue to close the cut and it worked great.

I’m a 34 year old male and recently diagnosed with Papillary Cancer.
I was so happy with my life busy with my healthy lifestyle, running marathons, and century bike rides, all of a sudden whole world came down upon me. During My Endo suggested me to find a good surgeon and finally with my office colleague’s recommendations I came to know about the endocrine surgery department of UCLA. During my first call I was told I can have an appointment with Dr. Avital Harari after a week on June 2012. On my first visit I was pleased with the confidence and assurance given to me by Dr. Harari. Knowledge makes a person confident no doubt about it. She looked at my old reports and did an ultrasound on my thyroid to see if the lump has spread to other lymph nodes or not during the same visit. She told me not to worry & that as I’m quite young so the prognosis of this type of cancer is better upto 97%. She also mentioned that there can be some complication risks of 1-3% during my thyroidectomy which really scared me, (I know all surgery has some complications), as all ready I got something to worry about and with the added complications I’ll be doomed.
I got surgery date after 2 month after my visit. Before my surgery date hospital staff called me to get the pre operation tests done. On surgery day everyone visited me including Anesthesiologist to let me know what will be the procedure & how long will I be out.
And with all my happiness and thanking words my surgery went perfectly well without any complications. I’ll be always thankful to Dr. Harari for saving my life and her expertise in handling the difficult surgery with ease and perfection. My experience with UCLA is very good and I must say for those first timers, you are in safe experienced hands and need not worry ( because I was worried a lot for the first surgery). Hopefully one day a magic bullet will be invented to kill the cancer.

I was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma on May 2012. The moment I learned I have cancer my world just turned upside down.
Being a 42 years old single mother of teenage twins and regional director of a multinational corporation, my biggest fears were that I wasn’t going to be able to help my kids with college and neither to keep my professional responsibilities.
I started my search for the medical team that would work with me on this odyssey when after several interviews with different surgeons, I met Dr. Harari.
She made feel very comfortable and almost immediately I knew she was going to be my surgeon.
I had some questions and concerns a couple of days after my visit so I contacted her via email, she answered me back very quickly, making me feel that this situation was as important to her that it was for me.
We scheduled the surgery for a little over a month after my first visit.
The surgery went just great. My cancer was very small and no need of radiation. My recovery was just unbelievable, the next day I felt good and I was able to take care of myself.
The 3rd day after my surgery I did my first workout session and felt very good.
Today, 2 months after the surgery I feel good and my scar is looking good too.
I thank you very much Dr. Harari and her team, for making this odyssey the best possible under the circumstances.

I’m a 38 year old male who was recently diagnosed with sporadic medullary thyroid cancer. By the time I got to doctor Harari I had already had one surgery to remove my thyroid. After that surgery, my cancer was diagnosed as Medullary. After a second biopsy of a lymph node in my neck came back positive, I was referred to UCLA and Dr. Harari. Working with her has been great. She is very knowledgeable and has a better grasp of MTC than my previous doctors. And she LISTENS! I have a pretty rare cancer, and it requires a lot of research on my part. When I come in with questions or comments about information I’ve gathered, she takes me seriously, and many times can further explain what I’ve read. She also consulted with a colleague in San Francisco who had more experience than she did with this disease. Bottom line, she’s been very thorough.

She sent me through a boatload of scans and tests to determine how far this thing has spread, and they came back pretty clean except for my neck. She performed a modified neck dissection and removed 30 lymph nodes…5 of which came back positive for MTC.

I have had no complications after the surgery. I think that says a lot about Dr. Harari’s skills as surgeon, ’cause from what I understand, it’s a pretty difficult procedure.

I’m still waiting to see how far my calcitonin has dropped…before surgery it was 1500, so we’ll see.

I know it’s a long journey with MTC, and it’s never really cured, so I’m hoping it just grows very slowly and leaves me alone for a very long time.

I was treated by the amazing Dr. Harari and her team. I needed microsurgery and alcohol ablation to kill 3 malignant lymph nodes. In treating me, Dr. Harari and her team set up, tracked and followed me through five appointments with other doctors (to treat an infection, confirm that a previous surgery hadn’t injured nerves in my neck such that the new surgery might not make it hard for me to breathe or eat). The surgery went great, the healing was excellent, the follow up perfect, the pain control amazing.

Dr. Harari is a rock star and UCLA must have the best thyroid surgeons in the nations. We are very lucky to live near by . . .

Nancy

Thank you to Dr. Avital Harari!

Dr. Harari,

I am usually a good patient, and an “easy” patient, doing whatever is asked of me, and following through with whatever is recommended for me. As you know, I lost my mom to cancer just over two years ago. I have been caring for my dad for the last two years. Last December I was diagnosed with lung cancer and had most of my right lung removed in January. It was then recommended that I see you for a consultation regarding a thyroid nodule. When you recommended surgery, it just became too much for me, I’m afraid I unintentionally created some “drama”, and I apologize for that! Having said that, you never gave up on me, and when I contacted you to let you know that I had decided to proceed with the surgery, you were right there for me!

I want to thank you for your knowledge, expertise, skill, kindness, patience, understanding, and support! I also want to thank you for being so cautious and thorough, for taking such good care of me, and for doing such a good job during my surgery!

I have been trying to figure out how I thank someone for saving my life, and I have concluded that I will never truly be able to thank you! For now, I figure this blog is a start…

Please know that I am eternally grateful and thankful, and I am more appreciative than you will ever know!

Thank you so much for all that you do, and for just being you!!