Let's start with I have bilateral TOS from a car accident in 2003. I also had right side Erbs Palsy at birth which resolved itself by age three months. I think I also may have had Klumpkes Palsy.

Dr. Annest and Dr. Sanders did my Pec Minor Release. I scheduled the pec minor release surgery, and then went to Denver for both this surgery and to meet Dr. Sanders, Dr. Annest, and Dr. Machenic for the first time. I had bilateral pec minor syndrome and I have bilateral TOS. Dr. Sanders was the first one to see me, and after examining me and giving me first a pec minor block with lidocaine on the left side and then an anterior lidocaine block on the left side diagnosed me with the fore mentioned.

Dr. Sanders told me that I needed both the pec minor release and the first rib resection and scalenectomy bilateral. He offered me the choice of waiting and having it all done at once in February, which was the next available opening, or to have the Pec Minor Release as scheduled in two days when I was there and coming back in February to have the first rib resection and scalenectomy done then. I chose to have the pec minor release then and the rest in February.

I did not recover well from the pec minor release. This was done in December 2013. It was not that the surgery itself had any problems, it was just that my recovery took much much longer than expected. Also, I forgot to tell them that I had Erbs Palsy at birth. This resolved itself, but this shows up on my nerve conduction tests, and it cannot be determined if this is from the current injury or my injury at birth. These two reasons combined are the reasons that Dr. Sanders and Dr. Annest cancelled my other surgeries. Dr. Sanders called me in April because I had called the office requesting the surgeries again, so I guess he may have been reconsidering my surgeries, but by then I was scheduled for botox, CAT scan, office visit with Dr. Donahue at MGH, so I didn't push the issue.

To answer your question about PT, I have done PT on and off for ten years with the primary focus being my poor posture. The pec minor release fixed my poor posture instantly. I still have issues with head forward position, but my shoulders are literally 3-4 inches back from where they once were. This was amazing! However, I had all kinds of neck pain, because it was a HUGE change in my anatomy. For ten years I felt like a complete failure in PT working on exercises to strengthen muscles, but not until I had the pec minor release scheduled did anybody do anything to help relax the pec minor. I had a PT dry needle my pec minor within a month or two of the surgery, painful as hell but it did give me some symptom relief.

My big question for you Rhonda, is why did you go to MGH and not see Dr. Donahue, lol?