Hiya,

so glad you posted we have all been wondering how your surgery went.

Im glad you are out of the hospital and well on the way to recovery.

Dont wory about sobbing whilst on morphine its a mood altering substance and can make you very emotional. Also you can think and hear and see things that aren't really there, so dont panic !

Don't worry about feeling sorry for yourself and don't apologise. We have the forum to rant and express ourselves. Everyone is entitled to a some self pity! You wouldn't be human if you didn't have dyas when all you can think is "why me". If I have a day like that I say to myself ok you can be miserable today, but it stops on the stroke of midnight. Its healthy to acknowledge those feelings.

Sorry you are still in pain and its not comfortable sleeping. When I had surgery for bowel adhesions 11 years ago I was cut from just under my breast bone to my pubic bone. For weeks after I could only sleep propped up. If I lay down the pain was so immense that I would pass out trying to sit up! I couldn't laugh cough or sneeze as the pain was so bad! I got the fit of the giggles once and I just couldn't stop it was sheer agony!!!

When do you go back for post op checks? Im sure you will be able to discuss things better with your Dr then and you wont be in a morphine smog. The good thing is that they got it out.

Make sure you dont try and do too much! Take it easy.
Wishing you a speedy recovery
Love
Rach

Hey Nicky,

Welcome back! I am so happy that ordeal is behind you and you are on the mend. We sure thought a lot about you and missed you around here. Please be very careful in everything you do...it takes quite a while to fully heal. I am so happy you had your family around you for support. When do you see the surgeon for a follow up? I am sure you will get your questions answered then. After my thymectomy, the only way I could sleep was propped up on several pillows. After about the third week I could sleep on my side, but still with 2 pillows. Hope you find a comfortable position. I wish you a fast recovery and eventully a full remission. Take care.

Hugs,
Pat

Hi, Nick. I'm glad you are okay. Any kind of surgery when you have MG is scary. Did you hear "carcinoma" while under anesthesia?! I hope it is all benign.

I have not had a thymectomy but have had an abdominal hysterectomy. Same problem with sleeping positions. If you have a very comfy chair or a recliner, I highly suggest you sleep in those! But don't do it for too long or your body might actually start to confuse what it's supposed to do when. It may start to think that your circadian rhythm of sleep is off. Seriously, look it up!

You would have to use your feet to get out of a recliner, since you can't use upper body strength yet to do it. Concentrate on letting your lower body do things. And you do need to sleep as much as possible since a lot of healing happens while sleeping. Has anyone talked about any stretching exercises for you and when to do them? You know how muscles always get worse when they have been inactive for awhile. The same thing will happen with those chest wall/trunk muscles.

Morphine is hell for MGers. They had to take me off of it after only one day due to how bad my breathing was.

I hope you continue to recover well. I'm glad you have good doctors looking out for you.

Annie

Nick,
So glad you are through the surgery, I hope your Thymus tissue is benign. It took me awhile to learn to sleep on my back, I am a stomache sleeper, restless nights! It gets better though, hopefully you will feel some positive results soon, they keep coming for a couple of years, for full benifit ! My breathing was my first positive response from it, helped so much !
Mary

also try lying on side hugging a pillow-it keeps your shoulders off the bed

Hey Nicky!!! Welcome homeEE! Am so glad to hear from you honey!

Lol. Am so excited for you. Do hope you'll start feeling improvements everywhere soon! Continue to recover quickly, and come let us know when you're up to it.

You've been missed Nicky!!!!

So glad that everthing went well for you. I slept upright in bed, with pillows all around me. 4 pillows behind my back and 2 on each side, just like I was sitting in an armchair but I was in bed. That is the only way that I could sleep for weeks. The only problem I had was that once I got all propped up in bed that I usually had to get up to use the bathroom. I also kept my pillow handy at all times (for sneezing & overactive kiddies). Take care ~ Melanie

I echo what many others are saying about sleeping positions. I laid propped up on MANY pillows. AFter about a week I tried sleeping on my side. I put a big fluffy pillow under my top arm and hugged it. I used 2 pillows under my head for about a month.

Interesting, lots of different spots for heparin. I got mine in my hips.

Hey Rach,

I'm so sorry for the pain you went through during your surgery! I can totally relate to the laughing thing....My mom was doing this funny spin, imitating one of the contestants on 'so you think you can dance,' and I thought I'd have to go back to the hospital I was laughing so much and the pain was so bad! lol...Now, I can laugh, but still sorta get the feeling that my lungs wont expand again when I want to inhale...I'm sure it'll pass, though.. Right now, my surgeon is on vacation until AUgust the 10th and my neuro. is on vacation until AUgust the 1st...I'm hoping I can get the results of what the tumor is whenever it's ready...It's funny, I'm taking morphine (in pill form now), and I don't notice much of a difference...I find that advil helps a lot, though..I'm glad I wasn't aware of the side-effects of possible hallucinations while on morphine...I'm one of those really impressionable people who probably would have hallucinated just at the notion of it being possible! lol...

Hey Brennan,

Thanks for the encouragement re. the scars...I'm feeling pretty hopeful that my scar will be slight, for the chest tubes too...They're healing pretty well,,,

Man, I wish I had a wedge! I'm using lots of pillows and cushions right now...It's funny, I've been staying at my aunt's, sleeping on my cousin's bed...His is very close to the ground and I find this very helpful for some odd reason...I still sleep on my side (even though it hurts a bit)...Is it dangerous to sleep on your side after a thymectomy, I wonder? I hope not, otherwise I'll be a sleepless lunatic! lol

Thanks for the well-wishes!

Hey Pat,

It's so nice that you guys were concerned about me! I really appreciate it! I agree that I need to take it a bit more easy...Sometimes, I do things out of habit...Like I almost attempted to pick up a small tv to bring to my room...Duh! Thank God I didn't even try it, seriously....can you say emergency? lol...i'm seeing my neuro around the 1st and my surgeon around the 10th...Thanks for the well-wishes! The pillows are definately a life-saver!

Hey Erin,

I can definately relate to the need for control! I really hate taking these pain-killers! At one point during the hospital stay, they had my on percocet...That was really bad for me....I felt high and kept almost blacking out! They switched me to morphine tablets...Oddly, they helped a bit with the pain but didn't give me that zoned out, high feeling, thank God!

Yeah, the heparin's bad....I wanted to ask them to stop giving it to me just 'cause I figured that I'll be laying around at home and probably not getting a blood clot, so why worry about it here...I guess they have to be careful...I suspected they would insist on giving it to me...

I'm getting quite a bit of help, thank God...My mom was pulling through, and my aunt is being really helpful!

I really wish I could sleep straight up that way, but it seems impossible! When I was in the ICU, I wanted so badly to turn to my side, but to no avail...I kept waking up every 20 mins., it seemed, because of the sitting up...I think that I will give it a shot again, though...I think that the sleeping on my side might be hampering with my healing...

Thanks for the well-wishes, girl!

Hey Annie,

The docs. didn't mention carcinoma (as far as I know)....For some reason, I just blurted out the question of whether the tumor was one...I just had/have this gut feeling that my tumor is bad, just because of how sick/weak (not in the MG way) I've been feeling.....When i asked if it was a carcinoma, the doc. was like, "well, there were nodules." So, that put a dark cloud over me...I really hope it's not one...I want this evil tumor business behind me...

Woah, thanks for the advice re. the sleeping position! I'd never heard of that before (circadian rhythm), but it makes a lot of sense! You are seriously a genius when it comes to health matters! I've read many of your posts, and you know what's up! I do use my feet a lot! I've been using them to pick up whatever I can with them....It's a lot of monkey business, but it works! I use my arms a bit more than I should...Even one of the surgeons told me to stop doing that...I was on my hospital bed, sat up, then used my arms to lift up my upper body closer to the edge of the bed...It's a bad habit that I must stop....I was wondering about the morphine and MG combo...Maybe that's why I'm having a bad flare again...I'll check with my neuro...Thanks, Annie

Hey Mary,

I'm definately hoping that my MG will fade away...I wish my immune system would make peace with my acetylcholine receptors! lol After I had my last plasma exchange (which was fairly recently, like 3-weeks ago), I was feeling really great...Didnt' even feel like I had MG anymore, then boom! Last Sunday, I started to feel that old familiar heavyness in my tongue...I'm hoping that after my next exchange, or at least in time, things will be balanced again...Thanks, Mary!

Hey Xmas,

I have recently started hugging a pillow, and it's helped a lot! Thanks

Hi Connie,

Thanks so much, homestar (lol)! I've missed you too! I'm hoping the improvements are on their way, and I think they might be...just a matter of time!

Hey Rezmommy,

I had the same experience with the preparing the bed perfectly (the pillows all in the right spots, extra blankets for cushioning, extra cushions for the under the head and arms) and then old mother nature called...argh! lol

Luckilly, there are cushions everywhere, it seems, ready for me to grab when needed!

Hey Tbarney,

It's funny...You were the first person I talked to about the thymoma on this site and to give me an in-depth account of how the surgery went and after...Whenever I'd envision what my ordeal would be like after the surgery, I'd remember that I have to have pillows ready as per Tbarney! hehe...Thanks for all of your advice and help! I really appreciate it!