Hi Khan,

My background is in my post from a few days ago, so I won't repeat myself here. But my thoughts are as follows; you don't seem as debilitated as many of the posters, so I would think long and hard before consenting to any more surgery, which I'm sure you are, having had one already.

Next, if costs permit, I would fly to Denver and have the spiral CT scan done (mentioned in my post). This is a great diagnostic tool. Although we have the machine at UW (and Group Health, I believe), it's Dr. Brantigan in Denver who has the technician and the people trained to get the correct angles, etc. for the imaging of the exact TOS criteria.

Insofar as mentioning docs, we used Dr. Johannsen, who is the tops in the field in Seattle. Highly respected, very nice man, etc. etc. etc. Made a mistake in my husband's surgery, but docs aren't gods, after all. Well, maybe you are, but.... We will continue to use Dr. J for post-op follow through in January, as we still consider him the best in Seattle.

I think physical therapy is a viable option, but haven't had much luck in Seattle with anyone who really gets TOS. Again (I sound like the flippin' Denver's Visitor Bureau), the physical therapist in Denver http://ashbaughcenterfortherapy.com/...calTherapy.asp needed no ramping up for the treatment. Incidentally, their receptionist had TOS and several botched surgeries (2+?), had 2 reparative surgeries and is now happy and healthy.

Which brings me to my final thought regarding your comment about the grim prognoses on this discussion board. I've found that as people improve, they tend to leave the board.

Erin