Wow, thanks to everyone who read or responded; it feels so good to hear from people who understand what you're even talking about with this TOS monster! I want to see if I can answer some of your questions because they really help me to think these things through, and maybe they'll help somebody else as well (or at least give me an excuse to keep whining, ha ha):

Jo55 -- I do carry the diagnosis of CRPD but shhh...quiet!!...so far it's been behaving itself, no better no worse since my surgery a year ago. As far as the doctors having a clear view, I wouldn't want to risk stirring up this nice new board but girl, I could sure tell you some stories about the controversies I've run into with different TOS docs this past year. Some of it is political, as in the UCLA vs the Cedars vs the Denver docs vs some lone maverick doc in Montana, some is professional, some is wicked personal, and all of it is of course very counterproductive to the poor patient. And confusing!

Khan -- You are so right, everyone does do this thing a little differently (that's probably an understatement if you're talking about the surgeons!). But as far as I know, having a complete scalenectomy done the first go-around would be pretty radical and, therefore, unusual (am I missing something?). I do know that Dr. Annest (who did my first surgery), using a transaxillary approach, routinely cuts only as much of the middle and anterior scalenes as he must in order to take out the first rib, and then reattaches the cut end of the middle scalene to the cut end of the first rib in order to leave a smooth surface for the nerves to glide on. Dr. Ahn cuts about 25% of the bottom end of the scalenes and leaves them both to atrophy up the side of the neck; otherwise they're pretty similar. Both surgeons are very careful to remove as close to 100% of the rib itself as they can get, as leaving a stump can cause it to grow back and foster a recurrence of problems. Then there's Dr. Filler (Dawn's surgeon), who, unless I am mistaken, is more likely to perform lysis and neurolysis with partial scalenectomy as indicated using a supraclavicular approach, leaving the rib intact. But what the heck do I know, really? I'm just a patient, and each case I'm sure has to be evaluated on an individual basis. Thanks for asking about the seprafilm; I'm putting it on my list of questions for Dr. Ahn.

Dawn -- So sorry to hear you're still having trouble with those horrible headaches and intractable neck pain. Those are two of my worst symptoms, too, and I'm working with Dr. Jordan to try some new things, as it's doubtful the TOS surgery's going to break the cycle. He did some facet injections at C-2, C-3 and C-4 a couple of weeks ago, which didn't do anything but did tell us that we're dealing primarily with muscle pain. So I guess Botox is the next step. Hey, I read somewhere that they have to throw the vial away once it's opened, so I'm going to ask the doc to inject any leftovers into my forehead wrinkles instead. I can do that, right? Or just turn around really fast and say he's got bad aim? It's waste not want not, darn it! I need your phone # - going to email or PM you my info, OK.

Johannakat -- So nice to meet someone with docs in common! I've been hearing about Dr. J. for a long time, but always was told he didn't take insurance, so I never contacted him (which turned out to be me, outsmarting myself once again). Came to find out he does take workers comp cases, and Medicare as well... but the best thing as far as I'm concerned? He's a pain management physician AND he understands TOS! I've been looking for that combo for over a year now; it's not easy to find, even in a big city like Los Angeles. So, Dr. J. definitely belongs on the list of recommended doctors, assuming he has no objection to having his infomation posted on this site of course. Also, Dr. Ahn's and Dr. Saxton's information needs to be updated, as both have left UCLA and gone into private practice. I think I'm about to have a whole lot of time on my hands recouping from surgery, so maybe I can get that together for Mark via email. After the holidays you and I should try to get together for coffee or something - I'd love to meet you. Maybe we could schedule doctor's appointments on the same day and roughly at the same time or something (I live in Sherman Oaks but most of my M.D.'s are on the West side) and hook up after that. No, I know! We'll hook up before our appointments, be late together and keep the doctors waiting two hours like they do us! Right? (kidding!...I'm only kidding!!...)

Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and is feeling relaxed and relatively pain-free.
Alison