thymectomy monday
 

yup, monday is the day. transsternal with thymoma.
im trying to think positive thoughts. thinking of getting off of prednisone is a positive thought. im currently on 60mg one day/40 mg the other and mestinon.
i wont get to see my adorable little five month old baby while im in the hospital :( or pick her up when i get home.
wish me luck(please) . feel free to share advice!!
:eek:

Wishing you the best. Try and relax, I know that it's hard from my own experience. In a few weeks life will be getting back to normal and hopefully you will be feeling much better.
Al

Buy a good sized teddy bear...hug it tightly whenever you have to cough or sneeze after your surgery. The hospital where my friend had open heart gave each patient a teddy bear when they got out of recovery! They called it', 'Sir Cough-a-lot!!

So much more fun to hug than a pillow! And your 5 year old will be delighted after your finished with it!

Good luck!!

I had my thymectomy when my son was five weeks old. It's tough with a baby at home, but with my husbands help I was still able to nurse, after the surgery meds came out of my system. Best advice I can give.... Have someone forceful stay with you in the hospital. It's hard to demand things when ur in pain and can't move. The first three days are the worst but it will get much better! Definately have a small pillow/teddy bear to hug when moving or riding in the car. Take ur pain meds as directed! Don't try to be "strong" and forego them... Most of all remember your having basically open heart surgery and need a good support system when you get home.
Sending love and wishing you a quick recovery!
Jess

Mestinon with meals while in the hospital
 

If mestinon normally causes you digestive distress,
Have someone in your family tell the nursing staff ahead of time that you need your medical record to state that your mestinon must be given with meals, not at 9pm (4 hours after dinner) during medication rounds.
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Good luck- the pain is painful but not all consuming and the painkillers do a great job of taking the edge off. You'll be home and taking lots of naps with your 5 month old before the week is finished!

Good luck. I had my operation just over two years ago at Columbia U in NYC. did not have it done transsternal, had a VAT....I was out of the hospital in two days and did not have too much pain. The real good news is I'm now off all meds...I go for an IVIG every two months but have been going longer..up to 10 weeks now and hope to be off this by the end of the year...we shall see. I took almost 20 months before I saw any real difference in my MG, but now I feel really good....Good Luck.
Chris

thank you for all of the kind thoughts. ill let you all know how it goes!

I hope you are ok. Best wishes.

Still in hospital. Pain is not too bad. Would like the chest tubes to come out so I'd be a bit more mobile. Lots of good pain meds!

I agree about the teddy bear comment. When I had mine, my mother bought me a big stuffed pig. It was wonderful to have some soft and squishy to hug when I coughed and what not.
Best of wishes healing!

I hope you get better soon.

Glad to hear you're doing well. Once the chest tubes come out you'll feel so much better. Hope you're being a patient patient!

im home now and continuing to improve. Overall the pain has not been too bad. sleeping is not too easy. i did buy a large wedge pillow that i sleep upright on, that helps keep me on my back as well rather than rolling onto my side which is not allowed. Not sure about my mg symptoms except that nothing got worse and that my neuro has dropped my prednisone dosage since ive been discharged from the hospital which is great. i hate that stuff. my scar is large but not awful and aside from being limited with what i can lift and do i feel pretty good. hoping to see some more improvement in mg symptoms as i continue to wean off of prednisone.

Glad you're getting better. Regarding your MG symptoms... keep in mind that it is typically a long term fix if it fixes it for you. Most people for whom the thymectomy works don't see the full impact of it for a year or two. I hope it does help you lots; I wouldn't want you to get disappointed when improvement comes slowly though.

Good luck tomorrow...hope everything goes well.