Please do your home work and ask away questions with the surgeon before any cutting. Be wary of the promises and make sure every thing is written down. We are getting so many patients who had surgery and the surgeon is releasing them too soon and or telling them they are an unusal case and I cant help you. They arent recieving post surgical protocol or in worse shape with no where to turn to.

It's difficult to know what the surgeon's success rate is but make sure he is highly trained and has an abundance of success, has a post surgical protocol of physical therapy, swimming, medication regimne, etc.

I totally agree olecyn. THINK before they CUT!
I'm post 5 months op now and despite that my arterial/venous compression has been released I am pretty much regretting having had the first rib resection op done! At the moment I'm dealing with alot of skin sensitivity next to the incision of my scars, x2 which are 3 1/2 " above and below the collarbone ( not the prettiest of sights on a fairly youngish woman). Also muscle tenderness/weakness in the breast and underarm region. Unfortunately I am VTOS bilateral so a future op is eventually on the horizon.................. BUT only when absolutely necessary!
I have asked my surgeon to pospone the next op on the other side as the first was so intrusive.... it hit me pretty hard, physically and emotionally! Obviously I am concerned about the risk of thrombosis but I will deal with that if and when it becomes a serious life threatening issue. For the time being I am focusing on recovering from the previous op. Just be aware that such an op cuts through some major tissue.
Some patients are lucky some aren't. It's a game of chance.:Reality is despite having an op for A/VTOS I will still have ongoing issues in the thoracic region , as like so many of us I also have neurological issues too, which are often not solved with first rib excision op.
Despite my op I have ALSO discovered today after having additional EMG testing that I also suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome! Apparently according to the consultant it's only mild...... regardless of the fact that I often have distrupted sleep and can awaken on an average of x5 times per night......... every night with numb hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I'm a mild case than I truely pity those who have severe carpal tunnel.
Personally the best thing for me so far has been CBT and acupuncture...... coping with pain with the aid of the mind........ positive thinking. Oh and the occassional glass of red wine.........hic!!!!!
A BIG hug to ALL!!!!!!

SD- Is you Arterial / Venous TOS cured and neurological kind worse? Did they find exactly what was causing decromoression because if they did I'd figure you'd be healed for atos ?

@SD38, time to hit the carpal tunnel tendon glides:

https://www.google.com/search?q=carp...+tendon+glides

Good luck.

You are a star!

Hi Scaredsilly, my V/ATOS is apparently dealt with on my right side but I still have compression on my left. Unfortunately I'm very tender and sore muscles/ skin tissue post op and neuro stuff is ongoing and some of my issues can be contributed by carpal tunnel????? I had/have little room around my first rib and issues with pressure from ligaments and muscle mass etc. I suffer quite abit from muscle spasms/tight tendons etc too so I try to gently stretch every morning.

Dr. Criado at the University of Michigan called today(his staff) and He wants me to have 2 different ultra sounds and a cat scan done at the University.

I have been dealing with these symptoms for 5 years now and they have gotten worse in the past 6 months.

I handle the pain, as I try to focus on other things since i cant take any narcotics (allergic), but the loss of feeling and blood flow to my arm is what worries me. I have in the past few days been experiencing a pain in the right temple like some one is tapping there finger on my skull. I mentioned that too his staff and they told him and about a hr later they called back to tell me he wants to see me.

I have read some of the horror stories of post op, but I would rather save my arm

I go in for a knee scope Monday, so this will be my 7th surgery since 2007. I'm a old pro at this stuff LOL

So Thanks for all the advice and I will keep posting as I hear more

Thanks and God Bless

Rich