hello and welcome to you. that is sure the question that plagues most of us, i must say and what a difficult one to answer. i think each TOS'er struggles to find his or her own way through that one, phoenix.

on the one hand, TOS is a progressive disorder and from my limited understanding anyway there is no known "cure"... so whether we work or not, whether we have the surgery or not, however rigorous we are in our tx, etc., etc., the challenge is always gonna be there. it's a matter of severity and degree. balance is key as in most things in life.

so when you say lifestyle change i think you hit the nail right on the head. more like a sea change, methinks!! and i'm rather surprised, to be honest with you, at any doctor who would say that an increase in nerve sx does not signal at least some caution in terms of doing further damage. it's tricky, of course. chronic pain isn't useful in and of itself. but as TOS'ers, we are certainly told to STOP any activity which increases paresthesia or causes sharp localized pain or even referred pain... whether that occurs during tx or daily activities of living or whatever.

not knowing what type of TOS you've been dx'd with or the cause or anything else and of course, with no alphabet soup after our names we cannot advise you specifically and i know that's not what you're asking here. i think this is a VERY good question for an OT, though, and a good ergonomic work-up of your office environment is certainly something you might want to look into. the sorehand list out of www.ucsf.edu is a free subscription and may give you some good ideas in that area (the archives contain a goldmine of info!) as to monitors, keyboards, mouses, footrests, orthopedic chairs, armrests, the right height/width/adapaibility, etc. of all of it, etc. and there is a new "desk doctor" software program just out which will give you great stretches and breathing exercises, programmable for when to take breaks from the computer and all like that there! perfect for you because you are probably a workaholic like the rest of us...

which leads me to the larger issue, rachael touched on it recently i believe, of just what happens to a TOS'er when we are forced out on disability. i know for me (and i am still on it, damnit!) it is a form of h.e.l.l. in and of itself. my fondest wish is to get back into the workforce in any way, shape or form that i can... but alas! and alack! that is just not possible right now due to TOS nonsense. but as rachael says, we're in pain anyway, so might as well be at work and earning a living rather than sitting at home with no distraction, feeling disenfranchised and miserable, isolated, depressed. i might be putting words in her mouth but i know that's how i feel sometimes, phoenix.

i loved my career and i lost it to TOS after working for as long as i could (i did last for about 28 years, though, not too bad!). now i'm a bum living off the government (SSDI) and i hate it. never even filed for LTD, which i should have done (too late now, oh well!). but this isn't about me, it's about y.o.u.

voice-activated software like dragon naturally speaking (there's another one for MAC users), the right set-up for your office furniture and equipment, maybe a REDUCED work schedule, all those things are worth considering phoenix.

i've come to the conclusion that, at the end of the day it has to be about a different mind-set. we TOS'ers have that tendency to hold so much tension in our bodies, i think. just a personal observation. well, OK, i do, anyway - i really can only talk about myself! don't want to insult anybody out there in TOS-land!!! but dr. jordan did tell me that anyone who has a tendency towards anxiety will have problems with their muscles "splinting" like ours do (e.g. the infamous culprit scalenes and pec minors)...

he also told me to do a little keyboarding every day to keep my manual dexterity (i have severe hand atrophy), which i thought was interesting.

(no comments from the peanut gallery, now!)

OK, starting to ramble and it's not even 10:00pm yet.

again, welcome and i do hope you stick around. good luck to you no matter what you decide and thank you for your excellent post. great thread!



alison
"Be Brave"

PS I never would have admitted to this group that i was a pharmacist, though - what are ya, nutz or something?!?!?!