Quote:
Originally Posted by parbie
As for the surgery, Annest (who has been checking on me daily) said it went well. However, he did not remove my c-rib which I was concerned about since that was the plan. He did a pec minor tenetomy and then he removed a long fibrous band going through my artery and nerves, a neurolysis of my c8 and t1 nerve roots (I am not sure if he did any additional neurolysis I have to ask). He also removed my anterior and medial scalene muscles. He said the c-rib was not causing any issues and it was deep so it would have been risky to take it out and he and Sanders just did not think it was necessary to remove it or the first rib. I did get a nerve injury resulting in a winged scapula, which Annest says is getting better. He thinks my long thoracic nerves may have been stretched.
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I am so sorry to hear your are not doing better. I was surprised to read that Annest did not remove the C-rib or 1st-rib in surgery. I would guess those structures increase the chance of recurrence due to scarring.
I had an excellent recovery from my transaxial 1st-rib resection, but eventually began to regress. Once the symptoms began to recur, nothing Dr. Ando or Spousa did gave any long term benefit nor did the home exercises which included nerve glides (so I stopped therapy). I'm on Valium and 2400mg of Neurontin for now (Percocet when things get really bad). The only other thing that helps is sleep, hot showers and baths. I will likely have supraclavicular surgery very soon to complete the scalenectomy and clean up scarring and anything else that could be causing compression.
When I was considering travelling to Denver for surgery, I chose Charles Brantigan over Annest. Would you consider a consult with Brantigan (over the phone to start)? I've been told that he likes complex cases and fixing other surgeon's messes. That would be my next step if I were in your position.
If you come to So Cal to see Dr. Ando let me know and I will buy you Coffee or Tea.