Hi Bob.... our daughter came down with MG symptoms last June, only 2 weeks before her 21 st birthday. After blood tests and a cat scan of her thymus, the MG diagnosis was given to us. We were shocked as she had rarely been sick throughout her life. Her symptoms were mainly trouble chewing and speaking at that time. She was diagnosed with mild, general MG and they found that her thymus gland was enlarged and hyperplasic (hyper active). We went to MG specialists at loyola (in Illinois). They said she had a 90% chance of remission after a thymectomy. The reasons they said this could happen is because 1. she was diagnosed early 2. she is young and otherwise healthy 3. she had an enlarged and hyperactive thymus

Anyway, we found the best possible cardio thoracic surgeon who also did the da vinci robotic surgery and scheduled it. She went in on Oct. 5, 2007 for the surgery. They made 3 tiny incisions on her side and removed the thymus. She came out of the surgery very well and was groggy the first day... but she was HUNGRY and was given a dinner tray that evening. She was given meds for pain and the next day, they removed the chest tube which they put in to make sure the lung doesn't collapse. (I'm not a doctor, just a mom) ... anyway, they say this is the worst part of the operation..taking out that tube.... it was not a big deal for her at all...it just felt wierd when they took it out... but it only lasted about a minute. After that, she was a lot more comfortable. She was able to go home the very next day! She is a senior at college and didn't want to miss much school. She only missed 3 days of school! Her surgery was on Friday... she came home on Sunday... on Monday, she rested and I fed her some favorite foods. She was a bit bored so we took her to the Mall and I pushed her around in one of their wheel chairs so she didnt get tired out. She loved it. The next day was wednesday and she was up and around but I made sure she did her breathing exercises with the little plastic gadget they gave us at the hospital. You have to blow into it and keep the little ball up as long as possible. This is VERY important to do... this gets the lungs to expand after the surgery and you must do this faithfully to make sure the lungs get back to where they were before the thymectomy. On Thursday we went for a quick check up at Loyola and the doctor said she was doing great. She was taking only mestinon about 5 - 6 times a day ... a full tablet. She had no classes on Friday so she had only missed tues, wed, and thursday of classes. We took her back to college on Saturday and warned her to take things slow. She was taking 19 credit hours! Anyway, it's January now... only 3 months after surgery and she is down to 3 mestinon per day and feeling pretty good. Some days, she doesnt take any mestinon if she isnt doing too much. They say that some people get a bit worse after the surgery due to all the stress on the body.... she did pretty well. Basically, we are now waiting and hoping for a remission which the doctors say could take up to 1 - 2 years. Anyway, this was just a synopsis of our experience... I don't want to pretend it's a piece of cake but, the surgery was not as bad as we had feared. We did find the BEST doctor who had great knowledge about this surgery. That is so important. I know many people who have also had the sternectomy surgery and they have done well also. Everyone is so different...that makes it hard for anyone to give you advice. I wish you the BEST of luck and hope to hear how you do as you decide with your doctors and family what the best treatment is. Our daughter is glad she had a great surgeon and that this part is behind her ...
Best Wishes and Best of Health to you.