Blake,
It's very encouraging to hear that you are glad that you had the surgery and I hope that you continue to feel better every day! Unfortunately, I don't think it will be possible for us to make it to Stanford. We will be asking many questions of her vascular surgeon on the 21st - most importantly - how many times has he performed this surgery. I agree with you on that!

The doctor intitally told my daughter that he needed "two or three weeks out of her life" to take care of this, and she thinks she will be back to work in that amount of time. But from all I've heard and read, this could be a two month recovery.

How long was it before you back on your feet and feeling normal?

Thanks for any insight or advice you can give!

Joan

Just checking in to see how you are doing.

Hi, my name is Michelle and I'm new to this forum. I see that it's been a few months since anyone had last written but I'm hoping someone can still help me out.

I was diagnosed with TOS in March of this year after having a DVT(blood clot) found in the shoulder area of my right arm. A thrombectomy was performed to remove the clot, but not all of it could be removed and the procedure resulted in me having a few small pulmonary emboli in my left lung. I'm only 20 years old and am otherwise am very healthy, fit and live a positive lifestyle. I've been on Coumadin for about a month and a half (since the thrombectomy and my hospital stay) and my surgeon said that in order to not remain on Coumadin for life, essentially, that a rib resection of my first rib on my right side (where the DVT had been) would be necessary.

I am supposed to be on Coumadin for around six months, mostly to ensure the pulmonary emboli would no longer be in my lung, but since I am a college student going into my last year, I am hoping to do the rub resection surgery in mid-August, which my surgeon said is fine. My vascular surgeon, who I like and trust so far, has been performing rib resections for over twenty years and said he averages two or three a year. Is this reliable enough experience? I got a second opinion at a nearby hospital and all recommendations were the same. However, both hospitals are on the small side and I am wondering if I should get a third opinion form a more major medical center? I live in NH and the closest major medical center for me is Mass General in Boston (about an hour and a half away). My parents called and were told I couldn't be seen there until June at the earliest, which is kind of discouraging.

I guess my other main question is: Is it realistic for me to have the rib resection performed in mid-August and actually be recovered enough to ease into my school year? My classes begin the first week of September but I know I could miss that first week. This would leave three or more weeks for me to recover. My surgeon said two weeks would be time enough, but I know everyone is different. I know my health is more important than my schooling currently, but I am just trying to get the gist of what others who have experienced this may think.

Thank you to anyone who has read this and for any feedback!! :)

Michelle,
I had the same problem - blood clot and pulmonary emboli in left shoulder followed by coumadin for 6 months-have just had first rib resection by Dr.Dean Donahue at MGH. I higly recommend that you get a consult with him before choosing a surgeon. I am sooo glad I did. I live in DC and consulted with 4 different surgeons including the big names - Dr. Donahue was hands down the best choice for me and I am so happy I went with him even though it meant going to Boston. I am 7 weeks post op and doing great. Call Dr. D if you can for at least a consult before you make up your mind - his expertise in venous TOS and amazing bedside manner made my surgery a success.

To Moxie -

Thank you so much for the quick reply. That's GREAT to know about Dr. Donahue at Mass General. I'll see soon if I can set up a consultation with him. Did you happen to ask him how regularly he performs rib resections? I'm sure this is something I could inquire about if I consult with him, which I'm hoping to. If you don't mind sharing, how long were you in the hospital after the procedure? Did you have any complications? It's nice to hear you're doing well!

Add another recommendation for Dr. Donahue. I have bilateral TOS and recently had the 1st rib resection on my right side. I'll go in again this summer for the left side and I'm actually not dreading it. I was hesitant about the surgery at first but know now it was absolutely the only decision I really could have made.

As for your timetable, I'd encourage you to let the doctor set it. With my second in late July, I'm planning on being able to go back and teach the first week in September. After my 1st surgery in February, I missed about 5 weeks of teaching school. I felt like I was ready to go in almost two weeks out but as Dr. Donahue will tell you, he's very conservative and encourages you to "pay your dues now" as it will aid your long term recovery.

Whether or not you get the surgery, I cannot recommend Dr. Donahue enough. He's fantastic.

Hi, I just had rib resection done by Dr. Farid Garahgazloo using robotics, at Reston Hospital, curious if you interviewed him and did Dr. Donahue use the robotic procedure. Did you have to have angioplasty/stent for the vein?

That is interesting- I located a link with some info/video-
http://www.gwhospital.com/Hospital-S...---Gharagozloo

My Son...8 month post 1 1/2 rib removal-TOS
 

Michelle

I too live in NH and going to see Dr D was the best thing we did for our son. The week before Christmas 2010 my 17 year old son's right arm went "dead". Pain, numbness, tingling with no history. He has thrown shop putt, played foot ball without ever having injured it or pain, so this scared me senseless. At the age of 8 he was being tested for cancer when in this process they found he was born with two extra "Adams" ribs. Nothing to worry about they told us and up to this point they had never been an issue.
So on Dec 20 we were off to the ER at Mass General. There we saw 5 surgeons...the last one being an associate of Dr D. We told them about the extra ribs and they x-rayed him again. There it was...the extra rib on the right side had not only grown, but it had twisted in its growth and into the first true rib. His nerve and arterial bundles had been playing ring around the rosy within this rib. Needless to say he was put on a months worth of meds to calm everything down in preparation for the removal of at least the extra rib. His surgery was scheduled for the last week of January 2011. We were told that he would be in surgery at least 4 hours, possible more if they had to remove part of the first rib. 5 1/2 hour later he was out. Dr D did have to remove 1/2 of the first rib due to the damage the Adam's rib had caused. 1 week post surgery he had some numbness in his heel, one finger and a palms worth over the surgical area. No muscles were cut and blood flow is 100%. Dr D told us it would be a full year recovery for the bones to heal but activities could be resumed a little bit at a time. At this point, I don't think there is anything that he does differently then he did a year ago. He thinks twice before doing anything heavy or foolish. He just completed his Eagle Project which consisted of moving 5 years of stone with wheel barrels and then raking it out as well. He was a bit sore but who wouldn't be. I know this posting is past the time you were looking at having the surgery, but there is hope out there for TOS and Dr Donahue is one of the great ones. Please feel free to PM me with any other questions. :hug:

bilateral TOS
 

I had a blood clot in my right arm a few years ago and was diagnosed with TOS...I have been procrastinating on getting the rib resection for some time now. I finally decided that I needed to get it over with and had a scheduled consulation, a few weeks ago though I noticed slighy color changes in my left hand a slight swelling, I went in for an ultrasound and they thought they found a clot, they then did an angiogram and found taht there was no clot but there was compression and diagnosed me with bilateral TOS. The vein on the left has been compressed so much and has scar tissue so they are going to do the rib resection and a vein patch. My doctor told me that the recovery would be about 2 weeks and I'd be in the hospital for 2 days. Hoping all goes well, he will then do the rib resection on the right side. I was wondering how your recovery was and the process of it, pain, moveability, etc. Im petrified but I dont have a choice, any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated