Hi Dena,
I'm sorry that you've been having problems and all but as others said, you found the right place.

I'm glad to know that you've made appointment with Dr. Thompson. I tried to get to St. Louis and see him in person a couple of years ago from "Japan"
But because of medical fee (my insurance doesn't cover for oversea medical attentions) and time (he told me to stay there for 1 month!), I couldn't make it. I mean I had to give it up.
However, as I was exchanging e-mails with his secretary (a nurse ?!) , I found that he was pretty decent and had enough knowledges to deal with TOS (my treating doc here thought the same way).

Good luck and stay warm
P.S. I used to go to school in Kansas City, Mo in the mid 90's and visited in St. Louis while living there. I went to see my extended family in KCMO about a month ago. It was already cold (for me) there at the time.