Hi everyone,

firstly I have to apologize for taking so long to post but up until 3 days ago I did not have the energy to post, so here is my story for those interested.



I arrived in hospital on 2nd July very nervous, and began been prepped at around 1pm Surgeons attempted giving me a epidural but after 2 attempts gave up, I got wheeled into the OR at 1:40pm, 2 cannulas inserted was given something to relax me 3hrs later, full sternotomy 20cm incision, 3 wires. I woke up in ICU, stayed in ICU 24hrs and during that time stopped breathing on a few occasions, I vaguely remember screaming in pain when be shifted from OR bed to ICU Bed, I had 2 chest tube drains inserted, cannulas in each arm and one im my next which was in the artery (very uncomfortable) slept thru most of thursday night, was awake for about 5 min friday morning to say hi to my neighbor and then continued sleeping all day friday, went up to normal ward friday afternoon, and again awake for about 10min to see my kids, was given a PCA for pain but I was to weak and sleepy to press the button, at some point the nurse fed me some yogurt but apparently I kept falling asleep after each spoonful hahaha continued sleeping all friday night, woke up saturday which was my birthday thankfully I was a lot more alert, tried to go for a walk, but I could only get far as standing up, I was too weak, and once again slept most of Saturday 2 chest tube drains were also taken out that day, sunday I finally got up out of bed and had a shower that was awesome I felt half human again and it was also the first time I got to see the wound, which looked pretty neat, pain at that stage was about a 4 at rest and 8 on movement. as the days went on the pain subsided, Tuesday Day 5 my PCA was removed, continued receiving morphine injections for pain at night till day 9 otherwise it was a course of 2 lots of slow release pain killers and 1 lot of quick release, daily morning and night injections of heparin (my legs are still bruised) gout excited about the idea of maybe going home on thursday 1 week after operation but that was not to be the case, got a mild infection so that needed to be taken care of so it wasn't until day 11 that I got released to go home, I tell you what though it was easier in hospital, especially when your a single mom of 2 toddlers, but somehow I managed first 5 days after coming home after dropping children to daycare I slept it was not until 15 days post op that I was able to stay wake the whole day without needing a 3-4 sleep, last night was the first time I slept in my bed, till then I slept propped up on the couch and that too was getting uncomfortable im good now have been off all pain meds since last saturday, my energy levels slowly increasing had my 1st appointment with surgeon yesterday and I been given the all clear yayy pain is almost all gone except when getting up out of bed. Its been a long few weeks but I think all well worth it, as far as the myasthenia is concerned not too sure yet symptom wise so far so good only time will tell,

anyways its been a long day and I am about to fall asleep on the keyboard so I will go now, I hope everyone else is well,

Chat soon

Melissa

Melissa
So glad you got through it, & it's behind you now! A couple weeks after mine I noticed a big change in my breathing for the better ! Just the piece of mind of having the gland gone is wonderful !
Take care
Mary

Hi Melissa,

So glad the surgery went so well and you're on the mend. That is quite the ordeal to have to go through. Rest when ever you feel tired and don't use your arms to lift anything heavy...it takes a long time to fully heal. Take good care of yourself.

Hugs,
Pat

Glad all went well, I got shivers when reading this as it brought back memories from when I had mine {18 years ago} I hope this puts you in a drug free remission!

Melissa,
So glad to hear that everything went well. The tough part is over and now you will just have to heal. I am only five months post -op so I cannot offer a lot of advice. I just know that sneezing was AWFUL for the first while. I am hoping that you don't need to sneeze that often. I hope that you have some help with your little ones because you do not want to over do it. Take care ~ Melanie

WOw, what a story. I too hope you have someone there to help you with your children.

Melissa, I haven't had a thymectomy so I can't even relate to what you went through! It sounds like it was pretty tough. It's great that you are on the mend. I hope the surgery helps you at some point. We all hope for remission.

Annie

Hi Melissa,

so glad you are through the worst of it, wow I had a hard enough time just looking after myself after the op, but to have 2 toddlers, I think you're amazing to have coped!!!
Kate

I am so happy for you! Way to go! You are fast on the road to remission!

Love,
Erin

good luck with your recovery

Love
Rach