Sea Pines,

I agree with you and Di Marie, as well. The MOST important thing is to find a truly experienced TOS Dr who you feel good about, if you don't truly trust that your Dr knows what he is about, then get to one who does! Once you have, by all means, participate in your care, ask questions, but let the Dr do his job. Each TOS Dr has his own approach, philosophy, preferred tests, people in the field he respects (or not), and until you see that specialist you won't know if that $3000 test was worth the time, money and effort it cost you to obtain it.

But basics - like chest xrays, regular MRI's, EMG's, Dopplers and/or CT with or without contrast, maybe others, MAY be ordered by your PCP or a neurologist or other Dr long before you see a specialist, in order to RULE OUT other dx's - because TOS is still a dx that is considered after other more common dx's are discarded. So you might not have any say over whether or not these tests are ordered either - it's all part of the journey to a TOS dx, unless you happen to have a very obvious c-rib or vascular problem that is spotted very quickly.

beth