[Big10Kids]

Hi,

It's been a number of years since I posted but I was painting the downstairs of my house and it struck me that the last time I did it I was only 1 month post op from a 10 hour TOS surgery! So I thought it would be a good time to update. I'm doing fantastic! No drugs no PT no nothing! But I did great within a month after the TOS surgery and have continued to do so 7 years later.

My name on the old forum was Debra. I had all 3 types of TOS on both sides and one of the most severe cases Doc Brantigan had seen. He had to surgically take my jugular vein and make a new subclavian one so I would have blood flow to my arm. That in-itself was a rare procedure. Dr. Roos sat in on the surgery too. Doc B also did my left side 2 years after the RT side which wasn't as bad as as the right but still pretty bad.

I needed heart surgery to replace special kind of pacemaker a few years back and Doc Brantigan sat in on it in case the heart surgeon needed help. He did...........my first heart graft was stuck to the bottom of the sternum and was cut in half when the surgeon sawed open the sternum. I was bleeding to death in the OR. I was told later I lost almost all my blood volume. It wasn't the heart surgeons fault as there wasn't any test that would have shown this. I was very lucky, all the folks in the OR and Doc Brantigan saved my life. He had to do an emergent spiral vein graft to make a larger vein for the SVC that was cut. That in a planned surgery takes a long time but this he had to do in an emergency. It had never been done to that part of the heart before and there was no surgical code for it. I asked him later how he knew it would work...he said he didn't, but doing nothing wasn't an option.

Thank goodness he sat in on the surgery! Ten days later it shut down and they had to go back in but this time they just placed 2 stents to keep it open and now 4 years later I am doing great!

I also had liver problems after simple gall bladder surgery in Denver and not the GI docs or the liver docs could figure it out. I was going down hill fast but Doc B did tons of research, he had the medical library doing research and he was the one that came up with a treatment! He talked to another liver doc at a different hospital and he agreed. I started treatment and was out of the hospital after almost a month and I was back to a normal color and feeling great after a few months. No more yellow squash look! It happened right before Halloween so the color was great then!

I am back to doing whatever I want. WIth my other heart issues I can't do everything 100% but with my arms feeling great I can do many things I hadn't ever been able to do. I walk, & ride my bike a few miles every other day. Train my dogs, ski (albeit the easy runs and only a few a day) and do my photography! I hadn't done that for over 20 years before the TOS surgery! Now I can hold my cameras as long as I need too, and have had a number of my photos published! Some are now sitting in Congress and the Senate in a draft for funding for preservation in Colorado. They are in a number of publications around Colorado and others in Washington, DC. I don't get paid it's all volunteer but that's fine with me, my names on the photos! I actually live in Wisconsin but feel like Colorado is my second home!

I often talk to Rachel, Mike and Linda too and a few others that went to Doc B and they all now have been back to school, working or at the very least living again!

I recently was in Denver in March for a check up and saw Dr. Roos at a concert. I have a great photo of him and Doc B and if I can find it I will post it for all who want to know what Dr. Roos looks like., What a sweet, wonderful kind man!

Anyway, I probably won't be back (other then to post a picture if I can find it), as I am very busy and I have moved on. As you can see by my name I have 3 kids in 3 different big ten colleges, well, I did have 3 kids in college, my oldest graduated college in Fall and got a job back at the University! My daughter graduates college next month and is going to attend Pharmacy school to be a Pharmacist! My youngest is just finishing up his freshman year at college.

So.........I just wanted to let those who know me how I was doing, and for the new ones to see you can have a life after successful TOS surgery! TOS doesn't have to be a doom and gloom syndrome if you get good docs on the case.

For those not doing well, I hope you find comfort anyway you can. For those looking for great treatment, give Doc B's office a call. Or see whom ever you want that you feel is best for you, but there can be life after TOS, or even with it.

Best wishes to all.

[johannakat]

As I face surgery, it is always great to hear a success story. Thanks so much for posting.


Johanna

[watsonsh]

Hi,

I am almost 5 months post surgery and its great to hear of a successful outcome. Thanks so much for coming back and posting.

Wishing you all the best