thymectomy/pain med. question
 

I have thymectomy surgery (including removing all adjacent fat and lymphnodes) scheduled for Friday, November 5th.

Can anyone tell me how long they were on pain meds with the full sternotomy approach? How long did it take until you felt like yourself again? My family is talking about getting together on Thanksgiving 3 weeks after surgery and I am really wondering if that would be way too soon...

debra

I bet you will be ready for family by the 3rd week, just don't overdo it and let everyone else do ALL the work that goes with Thanksgiving! You should just sit back and enjoy your loving family taking care of you. You shouldn't have any problems enjoying the food either!

It will be 5 weeks this Friday, since I had my full sternotomy Thymectomy. I did not have anything other than my Thymus removed, but I was back home by Monday and only taking Tylenol from then on, right before bed to help with any soreness and turning over in the night. I really wasn't in much pain, except for soreness of my muscles when I moved. This has for the most part all gone away now. The incision its self, hasn't really caused any problems. I did have a problem with a little bleeding from where my chest tube was. It took 15 days to create a scab, so I could leave it uncovered. I also suffered pain from a mild cough, and had to go on antibiotics for several weeks to clear up that. I'm not 100% yet, as I get sleepy during the day, but I push though that now, as I have to go back to work at the end of next week. Having some vision issue, but that seems to be it as far as still showing any symptoms.

Have a great Thanksgiving with your family and best of luck to you as you continue with your medical journey. May it be as painless as possible.:)

Good luck with the surgery - I had the same surgery with removal of lymph nodes also. I was in ICU for about a week due to my breathing, but once I went home after a week, I stopped all pain meds except for a little ibuprofen once in a while. Obviously, I did't go out dancing, but at 3 weeks, I was going out to eat with my family and visiting also (with someone else driving - doc wouldn't release me to drive for 4 weeks).

As Lolligrump stated, you should be okay as long as you sit back and enjoy being pampered. Also, a little nap in the afternoon would be okay also.

Hi Debra.

I was on pain meds, just panadol for about 2 weeks full time, and then as I needed them. I felt able to do simple things like roll over in bed after about 2 weeks, but didn't feel normalish for about 6 weeks.
Hope this helps a bit.
take care and hope you can enjoy Thanksgiving, it always sounds so great, we here in Australia of course don't celebrate it :-)
Kate

wow, only tylenol lolligrump? that is the first i have heard of that, LOL!!

and a week for juanitad and 2 weeks + for kate....sounds quite variable. There was another person who was taking pain meds for about a month and then still needed one just at night for almost 5 weeks.

it really sounds like i am just going to have to see how i do as far as pain meds go. i am so nervous about this whole process now and i suppose there is no getting around that. i have IVIG all next week and then pre-op appts and PICC line changing and dressing every 2 days due to problems with the adhesive on my skin--all that will keep me busy right up until surgery.

any advice going in would be greatly appreciated : )

debra

Debra, I have not had this surgery but deal with alot of pain from the being on to small dosage of meds and such weak muscles I get injured constantly. Just hanging some shirts on hangers after laundry can injury my left shoulder. My neck-head is a constant source of pain as my neck is one of the weakest places and I tremor.

What I have learned is diet impacts pain for and others I have talked to. If you look up anti-inflammatory diet you will find the foods I talk about. And if I drink pineaple juice I quickly notice a lower pain level. They say it is the bromelain in it. One of the foods to say away from in the anti-inflam diet is peppers..red , green peppers. I have directly experienced this before. They are worse for me than say potataoes.

Annie59

Debra, I have not had this surgery but deal with alot of pain from the being on to small dosage of meds and such weak muscles I get injured constantly. Just hanging some shirts on hangers after laundry can injury my left shoulder. My neck-head is a constant source of pain as my neck is one of the weakest places and I tremor.

What I have learned is diet impacts pain for and others I have talked to. If you look up anti-inflammatory diet you will find the foods I talk about. And if I drink pineaple juice I quickly notice a lower pain level. They say it is the bromelain in it. One of the foods to say away from in the anti-inflam diet is peppers..red , green peppers. I have directly experienced this before. They are worse for me than say potataoes.

Oh I forgot to say what pain med I use. It is hydrocodone. If I am having a bad breathing day I take one half of a regular size pill. Advil causes problems for me so can not take. The mestinon is all my stomach can handle. My doc say hydrocodone is one of the safest pain meds.

Annie59

Will be thinking about you and your surgery tomorrow. Here's wishing a quick and successful recovery. I bet you will be fine in no time at all! Feel free to private message me if I can comfort you in any way.:o

Thank you soooooooo much lolligrump! I was just checking the site one last time before heading off to do all the last minute things tonight before surgery tomorrow. I leave at 5 am. Not sure I'll sleep much but that's okay. . .I have been up at 3 and 4 the last few days anyway, LOL! And I'll be in lala-land soon and on the good meds. Really looking forward to being on the other side of this surgery.

Talk to you all in a while.....debra

Hi Debra,

hope all went well with the surgery :-) Hope you aren't in any pain, and you recover quickly.
Thinking of you
Kate

Glad your surgery is over and hope you are on track to a complete and full recovery. You no doubt feel pretty awful right now, but here's wishing each day a bit better until you feel better than before!!

Sue

I dont know if I will get to this point but wanted to be sure to send you a very gentle hug. I hope you have someone to help you get thru this time.
Annie59

Thanks for the support you guys. . .I am through surgery and the intial aftermath (the worst part) and home now and onto recovery. Luckily, I have good support so that helps a lot : )

I will write more about the experience when I am up to it. . .debra

It's been less than 2 weeks since your surgery and you are already past the worst part! That's terrific!!

Now for the 'I'm begining to feel a bit more like me' phase!! Hang in there - and plan on a big turkey celebration..as I'll bet by then, you'll be well on your way to feeling so very much better.

Debra,

Glad to hear your already starting to feel better! A good support system goes a very long way. Enjoying your holiday will be much easier now that the initial stress of your surgery has passed.

Rachel

Great news that you are doing well. May that continue and may each day just get better and better!:)

Wow, the recovery is quite a difficult battle from the full sternotomy it turns out. The pain has been very intense. It's like a hot poker is stuck in my chest mixed with the chest spreader pulling sensation going on...not nice.

I heard that it's pretty difficult to control the pain with this type of surgery since you cannot immobilize the area. They have changed my pain meds a couple of times now. It's a bit better now but the late afternoon/early evening time has been the most difficult. And between doses, the pain gets too high. Since yesterday, it is finally better controlled because I started yet a different new med.

The thymus pathology came back as just large thymus so far. It was visualized on the MRI and CT as 1.5 x 3 cm and 2 months later it was 6x10 cm when it was removed!!! My neuro is hoping they haven't tossed it out and will spend more time resectioning it again. He said it's like finding a needle in a haystack, especially when it's that large. Also, there is no indication of a tumor thankfully.

Thanks for the recovery well wishes and hugs : )

debra

Hi Debra,

so glad you're through the surgery.

Yep I can understand the pain, I lived on pain killers for quite a while afterwards, my Dr said to take panadol every four hours, which I did.

take care and rest lots
Kate