wow, vix, you are gorgeous! i am so sorry you are in so much pain. afraid i can relate only too well to your story but am so glad you've found us. and under tort law of course it makes NO difference, the fact that you have congenital C-ribs or a history of TOS insofar as any settlement or adjudication of your case goes re that car accident. so make no mistake about that.

i am sure some of your fellow canucks will be chiming in here soon enough and, hopefully one of them will know a good lawyer to steer you to with a good working knowledge AND a track record of winning TOS cases, becca. it's tough but it can be done. i'm just a stupid american and don't know the laws up there or the social services systems, etc. but gosh you're in a tough spot, it sounds like. so hopefully GIBBRN, JAMY, RACHAEL, MUCKER, HAIRDRESSER, and others will see your post up here on this thread and be able to advise you either on the attorney front or on the insurance or assistance front.

at the very least, one of us yanks (not me, i'm a near computer illiterate...) can at least copy your wonderful introduction post down to the main part of the forum where more members and lurkers alike will see it, vix. that way we can get you the help you need... and just as key - you have so much to offer here, with the life experience you have with the TOS monster... would that it were not so!!!

but i do have some information for you, which i gleaned off of the sorehand list (http://www.ucsf.edu/sorehand/), comprising responses to a fairly recent post from an ontario librarian suffering from an RSI who was desperately seeking medical tx. a woman named catherine fenech responded (catherine is the founder, apparently, of international RSI awareness day), as did a poster named peter ryley. i believe both of them live in the toronto area. at any rate, dr. heather tick is very highly recommended and apparently patients come from all over canada and even europe seeking tx with her. her website addy is: http://treatpain.ca/rsi_clinic.html and she is the director of the RSI clinic there in toronto. dr. chong was also mentioned, although it is thought that he is starting to restrict his practice almost exclusively to musicians at this time. he does intramuscular stimulation (a form of acupuncture) using lidocaine. dr. tick does it without lidocaine (dry needling) which according to dr. chan gunn is much more effective in getting the trigger points to release. peter came up with dr. gordon ko (http://www.musclepainrelief.ca/html/dr__gordon__ko.html) out of sunneybrook hospital, who also has an office in markham - but just be aware it can take a good 6 months to get an appointment with him.
{ try this link to get above info - http://www.musclepainrelief.ca/ }

if you sign up for the sorehand list (which is free) you will have access to its archives. sharon butler subscribes to that list and you will see her post every now and again; her website i believe is www.selfcare4rsi.com or something to that effect. or just google her name and she should pop up that way or you can use the search function on the TOS forum (upper righthand portion of your screen...).

now i do realize that your TOS was not caused by a repetitive strain injury, becca. mine was not, either. but don't let that put you off. the sx and the tx are the same. just as the surgical interventions are the same (but we ain't goin' there yet, right?) and good for you for going easy on the meds, too... but please don't be a hero. i just hate to think of you suffering unnecessarily. really wish you the best with finding a most excellent doc and PT -- STAT!!!

i have lived with a raging case of true neurological TOS since just a few years out of high school, which unfortunately was misdiagnosed for many, many years before i finally found competent docs and the right PT's and other types of practioners to start getting real help (i'm a few years older than you now). so i know what you're talking about with the out of control pain levels, the atrophy and the nerve damage, jax. this takes heart and it takes courage to get through. but the way i look at it, if TOS is progressive, then so are those things, right? they gotta be. i can tell how strong your spirit is.

ice (if you can tolerate it) and a sense of humor don't hurt either. if there is any way for you not to lose that internet access right now i think it's going to become extremely important. and i know you have a great deal to offer here too. we need you here.

stay close.

"a positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." herm albright (1876 - 1944)



alison
"Be Brave"