I know that this might be a non important question especially because we have more important things to worry about like finding the right meds and remission but at the same time, especially as a woman, I find myself self concious of my thymectomy scar at times. It just may be because I had 2 thymectomys one at 16 and the other at 18 so the scar is pretty thick and noticable and as a teen and into my early twentys to avoid all the stares (which I still do get sometimes) and questions or more like assumptions of my "heart problem" people automtically thought I had. I just learned to cover it up either with my clothes or bring my hair forward and cover it up so it couldnt be seen whenever I went out anywhere. Even now that im in my mid thirtys im not as bad with it because it is part of me but at the same time I still have a bit of a complex about it. Have any of you out there felt this way?
-Tracey

Hi Tracey,

I just had my thymectomy 2 months ago and I totally understand what you mean. On the one hand, we lived through something very difficult and can be proud of living through a major major surgery but on the other hand it's just that no one really understands without a whole lot of explaining. And that is hard--not to mention the feelings it brings up. For me, it's not embarrassing but there is so much sadness and medical trauma that I've been through it's hard to talk about without crying. So, sometimes I cover it up and sometimes I don't and when I don't, I just try not to watch people checking me out. But I am new to this and maybe after a while, I will change my mind again....

debra

When I had my thymectomy in 2005, my nurse had mg also and had her thymectomy 15 years before - her scar was a thin silver line which I wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't told me. She was in remission so she was able to work and live a fairly normal life. It gave me hope. My scar is much less noticable than it was right after the surgery, but I don't worry about it, because I have discovered, MOST PEOPLE DON'T LOOK AT YOU THAT CLOSELY!

I did an experiment a few years ago. For about a year, I wore different earrings in each ear. I have short hair, so they should have been noticable. Sometimes, I wore a button earring in one year and a dangler in the other; gold in one, silver in the other, bold in one and nothing in the other. I worked in an office at the time and ate out a lot so I saw a lot of people. In that year, only 2 people ever asked me about it! Even my sister-in-law never asked, and believe me, if she had noticed, she would have!

So, don't be too self-conscious. You are a lot more aware of your scar than other people are. The only person who has asked about my scar was my a/c repairman who had heart surgery about 6 months before and assumed my scar was from a similiar surgery. I simply told him I had a thymectomy and my heart was fine. That was that.

Good luck!

[SIZE="4 "][/SIZE], i aslo felt that way i got my thymectomy at age 18, and im a whooper 52 now but i dont care anymore its kind of faded but who cares it helped make my life better by removing the thymus glade and its a hard surgery to go thru my lung collasped 2 days after the surgery so then i got the oh goodie tracheotmy but that can happen. and if we would know what we know about how we feel yrs later we would not let things bother us so and it goes along with the droopy eye dont want to look at people in the eye dont want them seeing a droopy eye,, smile tracey, and debra maybe people ar checking you out becasue your cute

Hey...bedazzle that scar and be proud...MG will not win!

My 15-year-old daughter has a big scar from open-heart surgery when she was a baby. I don't really mind that it makes her apt to avoid low-cut tops...Nope, don't really mind that at all. Meanwhile, scarves are very pretty, and in style.

Abby

when I had a central line a few years ago, I was concerned that people will notice the small scar it left and start asking me about it, so I went into the habit of wearing a necklace every time I went out.

when I had a muscle biopsy a few years later, I was again concerned that this will raise a lot of questions.
At that time I still tried to hide my illness (now I know it was completely ridiculous, because how can you "hide" the fact that you have to stop every few steps, need to hold onto the walls and arrive panting?).

I have other scars that can't be seen and are much more painful. every time I think that they have healed, something happens that makes me understand this is going to be a much longer healing process then I thought.

just like scars on the skin, they gradually fade, and are much less painful then they initially were, but they are still there and probably will be there forever.

scars are reminders of unpleasant experiences that we have went through. reminders of pain and suffering, but they are also evidence for our healing and coping, our courage and our ability to endure this suffering.

I no longer waste my limited energy on hiding my illness or my scars. it has become part of me, for better and for worse (or hopefully worth).

alice

Thanks to all of you that responded, all your words were very helpful. Sometimes its hard dealing with this illness and no one really understands but im glad I found this forum to talk to people that cant just sympathize you all actually know what im going through
-Tracey

,welcome Tracey!!! its fantastic to be able to chat with people who are in the same shoes i met a good friend 11 yrs ago thru the mg foundation in Los Angeles she was dianosed with mg and had questions and we lived 15 mins from each other so the fundation hooked us up, this site is great , me with mg 37 yrs i find it helpful and encouraging... Welcome.

Question:

Were everyone's thymectomies done to remove a thynoma or simply as a preventive measure?