affects of Sjogren's on surgery

[theosof]

High All- I haven't been on the forum for a couple of years. I felt that most of my issues were fibromyalgia related. NOT... I recently had sinus surgery 2/13- not to go into minute detail, I have had many setbacks which my ENT feels are related to the dryness of the sinuses that SS causes.
SO my concern now is the fact I will be having a hip replacement- I am very concerned as the sinus surgery was pretty minor compared to what the hip surgery will be.
If any one can give me prophylactic measures- supplements, etc. What I should tell my surgeon, any ideas how the SS could affect the surgical period, post op, etc....
I will be talking to the Rheumatologist but want some practical suggestions from you all.

Thanks- good to be back 

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

Welcome back. 

I had a partial knee replacement and actually healed well. I did all the physiotherapy, although it was a bit tiring, but well worth it because the outcome was good.

The worst bit I found as far as surgery went was waiting to go in, in the first place. I persuaded them to let me have some water to swish and spit with - I knew I couldn't drink it - but I had to convince them to allow me.

Hopefully your surgeon is more familiar with Sjogren#s than mie was. He really didn't have a clue.

Make sure your eye drops are handy too - when you wake up!

I actually had my knee done with an epidural - so I shouldn't have been asleep but I had stayed up all night before and to their consternation I went to sleep on the table.

I'm sure you will have a pre-op meeting. Make sure you have all your medications listed and that they understand what Sjogren's is.

Take care - Scottie 

[brooks1teacher]

Has anyone here had surgery to deal with breast cancer? Lumpectomy and/ or mastectomy?

That may be in my future so I am wondering about this myself.

Hope you feel better soon!
B

[warmwaters]

I've had a biopsy and a lumpectomy (small about 2 cm).  Both were done with a local anesthetic injection in the breast. and were relatively quick - actual procedure after the set up process was less than 10 minutes.  Afterwards you have an icepack to help with pain and bruising. I had a lot of bruising, and it was uncomfortable for a few days, but more from the bruising than the actual procedure.

This is the least invasive version. If you are dealing with something larger or more diffuse, I'm sure it's quite different.

[brooks1teacher]

Thank you for sharing WW.
B

[irish]

I have had a fair number of surgeries over the past 25 years with a couple of them being more invasive and harder to heal. I am like Scottie, the worst part of the surgery is the wait prior to surgery when you can't drink. It is really tough and I usually talk them into water so I can rinse and spit. Otherwise I feel like my throat is going to crack right down the middle. Good luck. Irish

[grammad97]

I recently had surgery. At pre-op we discussed my concerns and then when anesthesia doctor spoke with me surgery day he told me how we would address my eye dryness. It was a long surgery. My docs were prepared to aggressively deal with flares too. I really did well. Stay ahead of any pain is the best advice I can give you besides keeping hydrated.

[theosof]

thanks everyone for the input- good info