Hi everyone I,m very new to all this ,so for now I have 2 questions to put out there .... (1) How does Sjogrens affect Surgery ? I,m asking this because I have a pending reconstruction breast surgery in the next year or so .....(2) As we grow older how will Sjogrens effect us ,what is the longterm prognosis in other words ?? Thank you in advance ,looking forward to hearing your veiws and knowledge :)
Hi, Karen, and welcome. About your second question, the moderators here are composing a patient guide for Sjogren's that will address long-term prognosis as well as many other issues, so you have come just at the right time. I hope our members can chime in about the surgery question, as that I do not know.
Thanks Dancemom x
The biggest effect SS will have on your surgery has already occured depending on the extent of the mastectomy (Forgive me if I am assuming more than I should) and treatment you have had, You do have a number of lymphnodes in the area. You likely have little to worry about, but be sure your surgeon is aware and answers ALL your question I would mention it to the anesthesiologist as the dryness from SS may have an effect on intubating you (if necessary)
The long term prognosis is dependent on whether or not you have any other autoimmune diagnoses and the the incidence of blood based deficiencies Generally speaking outcomes are very good with fewer than 10% of patients having adverse events.
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Thank you Tj thats very informative ,no need to ask forgiveness I,m very open about my Breast cancer ,talking helps get thru it all ....yes I did have a full Mastectomy removing lymphnodes also in July 2013 . My surgeon put a small implant in at same time but it wasn,t successful as the skin became necrotic and i had to have a second op 7 weeks after the first..This wound didnt close /heal fully till following October .I was told an infection had gotten into my skin.In the November I started Radiation and the infection flared in my lung and then after treatment it flared in my skin which was extremely painful.. in the following months I,ve had lots of infections .. and all during that time I,ve had lots of pains and aches mostly in my back and knees.. wondering now has SS contributed to my complicated recovery ... I,m waiting on a call for reconstruction so its brilliant to hear that SS won,t stop it going ahead ,which is what was worrying me ...Many thanks again :)
Seeing if you can have artificial saliva with whoever is going to be looking after you in recovery straight after your op may be helpful as you may have a very dry mouth.
Good luck with your op. x
Make sure your anaesthetist is aware of your SS. I had a hysterectomy 2 yrs ago, at that stage didn't know I had SS. Anaesthetist had problems intubating me and I came out of theatre with intubation pneumonia.
Hope all goes well for you
Take care
Toni
Hi Karen
Glad you made it here also. The main thing is to make sure the whole surgery team knows you have Sjogrens. Ask the doctor and anesthesiologist how the surgery will effect you. I had surgery and the doctor had me stay a few extra days.
Their are many things that effect us like other health problems and our life styles in general. I have a friend that is 92 and she is still going strong.
Hi Karen and welcome. I am fairly new here also, was just diagnosed this month and more blood results pending. I too am a breast cancer survivor. I have been dealing with the SS symptoms for a few years. All my symptoms were sorta blamed on the radiation treatments. I do wonder about the breast cancer and the meds and their part in all this. I hope you find some answers in here ,I sure have.
Hey...I will dig up the link as soon as I can but I wanted to give you the info....
Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation has a page on their site with a list of things for your doc, anesthesiologist and the nurse doing after care when you have surgery. Its basically a checklist of things to address. Hopefully it will be helpful to you.