[ozzy14]

Originally Posted by Edelweiss

I have a lot of confiance in this doctor:
Dr. Franz Hinterreiter
Landstraße 66
4020 Linz
www.hinterreiter-gefaesschirurgie.at

Hi Can anyone help me with a TOS specialist in Sydney. I have only heard of one Dr and she has an "interest" in TOS, not a specialist. I dont even know anyone else with this condition.

Thanks

[gibbrn]

I think Tanya is in Australia, but not sure which part of Austrailia she is in.....I know large country......but hopefully she will respond I will put a post in our forum not up here !!

take care,
Victoira

[EasternShoreLady]

> Dr. Julie Freischlag
> UCLA Gonda Vascular Center

Dr. Freischlag is no longer at UCLA. She is now Chief of Vascular Surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore MD

601 N. Caroline St.
8th Floor Adult Medicine Dept.
Baltimore, MD 21287
PH: 443-287-3497
FAX: 443-287-3500

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/surge...lty/Freischlag

[16rhonda]

Originally Posted by DDayMBB

If anybody has a Dr. That they would like to add, please PM me and I will add the Doctor etc into the correct place above!

Dr. Dean Donahue
Mass. General Hospital
Thoracic surgery
55 Fruit St.
Boston, Massachusetts

[jaydenskeeper]

Originally Posted by 16rhonda

Dr. Dean Donahue
Mass. General Hospital
Thoracic surgery
55 Fruit St.
Boston, Massachusetts

He is wonderful. He did my surgery two weeks ago and I just can't say enough about him and the staff at Mass General. The entire process from office visits, imaging and all through the recovery stage runs like a well-oiled machine.
Dr Donahue is very different from many drs that I have dealt with who are somehow more important than thier patients and have an almost celebrity-like demeaner, like you can never speak to them but leave messages through a nurse or receptionist. I was so shocked that one evening Dr Donahue himself called me and talked for 20 mins just answering questions and explaining things. He always makes himself available and really takes time. Today for example, he forgot to give me a script and called me (again himself) before I had left the parking garage. And he sent it to my pharmacy himself! Unheard of!
His knowlege of TOS and his surgical skills are amazing as well. He has written many articals and teaches on the subject all over the country. He is very upfront and honest and very conservative, and will not recommend surgery unless he feels that you are truly a good canidate.
If at all possible, GO TO MASS GEN!

[jkl626]

It looks like the Institute of Physical Arts List has been finally updated. this is where Art Ando studied and a few members have found PT's on this list that have helped them. I encourage everyone to post their PT's that have helped them.I post this list so often so that people can find help in their areas.

[astern]

Carolyn Law, certified Feldenkrais Practitioner
carolynklaw@mac.com
Atlanta, GA
404.874.0708

[johannakat]

So, At long last, I think I am ready to post the "how I chose my surgeon" post.

For anyone who is interested in my TOS story, here is a good place to start

To summarize, I am in Los Angeles, I have bilateral TOS with some decided differences in symptoms from the right to the left. On the right side of my symptoms are primarily in my hands fourth and fifth digit numbness/tingling, numbness in my wrist that is almost constant, snd general pain in neck and traps.

Left side- severe pain in neck and traps that never goes away and i have that same butcher knife that Dimarie always talks about sticking in right about where my rhomboid is. I get spasms all the way up and down my back, which make it so that I can even sit in a chair for too long. I get occasional numbness and tingling in my fourth and fifth digit, and only recently realized that I have a place on the inside of my thumb and forearm that's constantly numb.

So, even though my hands don't bother me as much on the left side. It is the one I am choosing to have surgery on first because my back bothers me so much.

I visited 5 surgeons-and I'll post my stories, However, a word of caution, I found my own experiences with these various doctors to be different than what I had expected based on stories from this board.

So If you are looking for a surgeon - visit as many as you can and ask as many questions as you can to get the most complete picture of how that surgeon would approach your own specific case.


Lastly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with me, either by posting on the board or by p.m.. I found them to be very helpful, and they gave me a deeper understanding of each person to my own experience. These accounts also helped guide me to asking the correct questions for things that seemed like warning signs for issues.

Now before I lose all of this somehow into cyberspace , I will submit it and continue on in a new post.

[johannakat]

My concerns most certainly are not the same as other people on this board. My considerations IN ORDER are as follows with the first 2 far exceeding everything else.

An excellent surgeon, who would perform an excellent surgery
To receive the correct surgery for my specific symptoms


only important for surgeons of equal merit on counts 1 and 2:

Good pain control after surgery
Close to home
Good bedisde manner, hospital stay, etc.

Aftercare/support system was not a big issue for me in LA because I have good support form my husband and our parents who will come out to help us for my surgeries.

Insurance was also not a big factor as I am on my own personal insurance (no worker's comp issues)


My primary concern was to figure out what the right procedure was for me, and then get the best available surgeon to do it. I was unsure if a scalenectomy or a rib resection was the right way to go. Therefore I concentrated on visiting surgeons with excellent technical reputations that did the various procedures.

to save time, I eliminated some doctors sight unseen because I thought that visiting them would be a duplication of visiting a similar doctor. For instance, I eliminated Gelabert and Annest sight unseen because I thoughtthat I attained my goals by visiting Ahn and Brantigbut that is the logic I used not to visit those two doctors. It was nothing personal and there wasn't anything particularly that I didn't like about them.

I approach this by visiting doctors In asking which procedure they would suggest, and why. I did not expect to talk any doctor into doing a procedure he didn't want to. I figured that the best approach was to pick a doctor based on which procedure I thought was right for me

Using this logic, I visited the following doctors from Mid March until yesterday....

Dr. Filler
Dr. Ahn
Dr. Weaver
Dr. Brantigan
Dr. Sanders

more to come....

[Jomar]

I like the logical and systematic way you did this- i think this will a great thread for many new to idea of surgery and surgeons and how to approach the decision.