I had a VATT back in 2000. It was very easy. I went into the hospital on a Monday morning, had surgery around 10, was in a room by 1:00 pm and had essentially no pain (just pressure from swelling.) I walked out of the hospital at 10 am the next morning, and was back at work the following Monday.

I had a 2 year old at the time. The only restrictions the doctor gave me were to not lift her with my right arm. About 3 weeks in, I sliced up a big watermelon (I'm right handed) and had some "pulled muscle pain" after that. All in all I think I used 5 vicodin.

Unfortunately for me, and unbeknownst to me, I was MuSK positive, and MuSK MG people really don't benefit from thymectomy (I got no symptom relief). The test for MuSK was discovered a couple of years later. That made me quadruple-y glad I didn't have the chest splitting procedure.

Good luck!