What I was told was that I could choose to not have surgery but if there is any vein or artery involvement that I'm just a ticking time bomb for a clot to be thrown and potentially cause problems like stroke or pulmonary embolism since I did not respond to PT. I was also told that nerve damage, the longer it has been compressed, the more permanent it becomes. There's also the concern if there is vessel involvement that you end up with gangrene and risk limb loss. I've heard that some people are able to live a long time without surgery but, personally, since PT did not work I'm not willing to take the risk of NOT having surgery. It's definitely at least something to talk to your doctor about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by starfish43
Thank you Onelessrib, I am glad to have opportunity to learn from your story
I just wonder if I don't have pain now at 6 mos, does that bode well for not having pain in a year or two or longer. I don't understand how I can have a problem so extensive that they are willing to operate on me, but yet I don't have very many symptoms. It varies from day-to-day, but compared with what I see most people with TOS posting, I can't even call what I have pain.
Odd sensations and discomfort, sometimes. So I'm thinking, how is surgery justified in this case? Unless they think I'm going to be in way worse shape should my vein shut down? Does anyone know? It's a little frustrating because I can't find information on this. Virtually everyone posting online seems to have the pain that accompanies the neurogenic form of TOS.
It is uncomfortable for me to type for long periods, but once I get up and away from using a computer, I feel pretty okay. So all I know is they think I have venous TOS but they don't think it's the cause of the tingling in my arms and the other minor symptoms. Surgery just sounds like a really extreme solution at this point, for a problem that I can't even see the extent of it.
|