Hey everyone!

So after much confusion and stress with my insurance company, I'm all booked for my first operation - left first rib resection next Monday (in just over a week)! My second one, on the right side, would be around spring break they said (I have it bilaterally).

I'm from Canada, where we dont have to deal with our health insurance companies, and let me tell you....it is absolutely no fun at all. Especially when theres so much miscommunication! It's amazing how anything ever gets done.

For those of you who don't know my "story" (and I dont think many would...I'm relatively new on here ) I'm a competitive swimmer, a freshman in university - and I'm not able to do anything except stationary bike which is super frustrating!
Anyways, my hardest battle has been mental and emotional, since the coming year is Olympic year and I would have most likely been a contender to make Olympic finals in my best event if I hadn't gotten TOS.
So this summer will be hard, watching the Games on TV and knowing that I could've been there, but I'm also working on positive thoughts and focusing my energies on making the next Olympics in 4 years in Rio!

But anyways, wish me luck and I'll be sure to post an update when I'm not on obscene amounts of pain killers!

Wishing you all the best. I hope the surgeries go well so you can get back in the pool and winning some medals.

Sending lots of positive energy your way. I know you will do great. If you don't mind sharing, what kind of TOS do you have, what are your symptoms, and how long from diagnosis to decision to have surgery? A lot of us are on the fence about surgery and hearing about how others arrived at the decision to have surgery is helpful. Thanks. Wishing you all the best for quick recovery.

Best wishes for a great outcome.

I have predominantly neurogenic, but i think there could be some arterial involvement too (my dr. was pretty vague about this though) - and its not nearly as bad as some of the other aTOS cases I've read on this site! My main symptoms are nerve "stretching" when i straighten my arms, nerve pain especially down into my thumbs (about a 9 out of 10 for pain), arm weakness, really cold hands, pain in my neck and near my collarbone, occasional pain while breathing (I've been a chest breather for several years and I'm just starting therapy to breathe through my stomach), toothaches, headaches (near the back of my head and that wraps around - probably a tension headache), loss of dexterity in my fingers i.e. writing becomes really hard after a while, a deep throbbing pain when my symptoms are really bad.

When the pain becomes really bad, traditional pain killers dont work, and I end up feeling dizzy and nauseous (which is never too much fun..) I decided on the surgery because it was the fastest and seemingly most effective way to get back to swimming, and back to real life even (like brushing my hair.. ), and since I've been doing conservative treatment and PT for months with absolutely NO improvement, it just keeps getting worse and worse.

I was really on the fence until about a month ago, so I totally understand wanting to weigh all the options before making a decision. I was pretty adamant against the operation until I went in for an ultrasound which proved a total loss of bloodflow into my hands when I raise my arms, which made me a "very good candidate for surgery" according to my doctor. He said that conservative treatment might help my symptoms so long as I don't do anything to aggravate it, but that they would all probably come back as soon as I started swimming again. Costs were also a big issue for me, but luckily my student health insurance is covering most, if not all, of the costs. I got an official diagnosis of TOS at the ultrasound appt (which was mid-october i think) but I've been dealing with a "tentative" TOS diagnosis for almost a year (the town where I'm from doesn't have the medical equipment necessary to confirm the diagnosis, so I kept flying out to big cities like Vancouver or Edmonton to get tests done, and unfortunately the Canadian health care system is really slow and nothing was determined before I left for school).

So thats pretty much how I got to where I am now..of course, this surgery isn't even close to the end of the road seeing as I have to go through it all over again on the other side, but it's a good start

I hope this helps! And sorry that it's about the same length as a novel...haha

Hi,

So sorry you're dealing with TOS. It is life-altering tournment. We do understand here.

You are young. Youth is on your side. But you must follow your surgeon's instructions for aftercare. You may feel like jumping right back into the water/life, but you must heal, with as little scar tissue as possible. On a microscopic basis, a little can cause BIG problems.

I know there's lots of successful outcomes, but it don't come of
ten. Don't blow your chance at a good recovery, okay?

Prayers and hugs...

Make sure you rest up well after the op, don't rush into heavy lifting and such.
Best of luck with the op!!!

Thanks for the information. Best of luck and please keep us posted on your progress.

You are so right with regards of the scar issue risk...... I've been pretty damn careful post op and I'm still experiencing issues.
The muscles and tissue work in this region are so sensitive.ANYONE undergoing such an op REALLY must NOT rush into activities too quickly..... gently does it!!!!!
Best wishes to all. xxxxxxxx

Hey all!

So it's a week post-op and I've gotta say... ouch!! The actual incision doesnt hurt too badly, its a bit tight and my muscles around it hurt but nothing unmanageable. I developed a pneumothorax/collapsed lung from the operation though, so thats been really painful, and I've had to use a spirometer every day to try to regain some lung capacity and get rid of the fluid build up in there. If it werent for the lung issues, this past week probably wouldnt have been so hard, but because of it I was in constant pain and I didnt want to do anything.

If you're considering the surgery be sure to talk to your doctor about the risks involved, because I didnt think that getting a pneumothorax was quite so common. Has this happened to anyone else?

And also, ask for Percocet. I've found that it works way better than Vicodin.