I had surgery with Dr. Thompson in June 2012, and I had a very positive experience. My surgery involved removal of the first and cervical ribs, removal of 2 scalene muscles, and repair of a subclavian artery aneurysm. My experience was much like Regis' - 7-8 hour surgery, 5 days in the hospital, and 2 extra days in the hotel attached to the hospital for follow-up visits, drain removal, PT evaluation, etc. I had no complications from surgery.

With Dr. Thompson and his team, I always felt like my care was being managed very well. Everyone was very familiar with TOS and his protocol. My pain management was good (pain ball, narcotics, etc.), and I felt confident in the decisions that were made about my treatment. Like Regis said, my local PT consulted with Dr. Thompson's PT to make sure I was doing everything in line with their approach. It was hard work, but overall my outcome has been very good. I was off work 4 1/2 weeks total, and there were some rough moments in there of getting my strength back, dealing with the emotional aspects of not being able to do what I was used to doing, etc., but overall I am very pleased with my decision to have surgery and to seek out Dr. Thompson. He was able to pinpoint my problems and had a very sound plan of how to give me the best outcome.

Edited to add responses to your questions:
I think I had two chest X-rays prior to leaving the hospital.
I had a drain placed at the time of surgery that was removed 6-7 days post-op.
I had a pain ball which was removed at the same time as the drain if I remember correctly. I had a pain pump (morphine?) for the first 3-4 days and then they transitioned me to oral pain meds (Hydrocodone if I remember that one correctly and OxyContin) which I was discharged on.
The only blood thinner I was on was Lovenox injections while I was in the hospital. I did not take any before or after that.
I was seen by PT while I was in the hospital just to get me up and moving around, very minimal movements/stretches, etc. I saw their PT who is in a separate outpatient clinic within the same hospital complex 6-7 days post-op to get me started on their PT protocol.