I had surgery June 24th at Naval Medical Center San Diego by Dr. Nelles, a vascular surgeon. I had my left cervical rib, first rib, and anterior and middle scalene removed during a three hour surgery. I have two insisions one above and one below my collarbone. My surgeon removed a lot of scar tissue from my brachial plexus and my sternomastoid muscle was cut and repaired to access my scalenes. My cervical rib bisected my brachial plexus and there was extra muscles attaching my extra rib to my first rib. But my artery was in excellet shape. When I first met my surgeon she said cervical rib resection was a fun surgery for her but when I asked her after my surgery she said mine wasn't fun but rewarding. I'm guessing it was a difficult surgery but that she feels like she helped me.

I stayed in the hospital for two nights. I'm still in a decent amout of pain: a lot of sharp pain in my scapula area and sometimes sharp chest pain. I am able to breath deeply without pain. I'm still getting the burning-aching nerve pain in my left arm which is frustrating because that was my reason to get surgery and I expected it to be resolved. I also have some numbness in my thumb, index finger and forearm but my surgeon said my nerves are a bit "angry" so I will eventually regain feeling.

I can manage daily activities with the help of my kids. Trying not to overdo it though. I take daily walks but walking up hill or up the stairs leaves me easily out of breath. I was able to get out of the house for a bit this weekend and it made me feel better because I'm a little bored of laying on the couch all day watching TV.

I will be flying back to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba June 12th. I'm bringing my daughter with me for a week to help me carry luggage, drive me around, cook, etc. I hope my pain significantly resolves in the next two weeks because pain management is limited in GTMO. It's too early for me to know if my surgery was successful but I have to remain optimistic that it was.