I am progressing well as I now am down from 10mg Percocet every 4 hours to 5mg every 6. I was able to drive my wife to work early this morning (she's pregnant and was not awake enough to drive).

I've been icing a lot and have almost full range of motion in my arm and grip strength back. The majority of my pain is still mostly incisional which also seems to be healing nicely.

I just hope and pray that the solution is more permanent this time and we are successful in abating the regrowth of scar tissue.

That's great news!

I tried reducing my Percocet to 1/2 tablet and started having flu-like symptoms from withdrawal I'm guessing. I'm back to 5mg every 8 hours and back to normal.

I'm scheduled for neurolysis and possibly scalenectomy on the right side Wed, April 24. I think I may need the scalene work on this side because the massage therapist stated she felt something abnormal which could be scalene on the right side vs no anterior/middle scalene she could detect on the left.

I'll be returning to Dr. Ando & Spousa for therapy in May hoping to return to work by the end of May.

There was a scheduling mixup and my surgery was today, not yesterday. I'm laying [relatively] comfortably in a private room at Mission Hospital.

No scalene issues but significant scar tissue had formed on the R plexus. Ulnar symptoms seem to have disappeared. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of my headache issues. I'm still a bit afraid to taper down the meds. The plan is to do a few weeks of PT before revisitting Botox.

I wish you the best of luck. I also had scar tissue form on my BP following surgery. I'll be eager to follow your progress. Here's hoping the second time is the charm for you.

Take care,
Kelly

Praying for a great recovery and an end to symptoms.

This latest surgical recovery has been much easier than the rib resections or previous neurolysis. I am able to drive after only 5 days post-op.

I still have some remaining pain and tension in my neck, largely due to the incisions...as well as some rotator cuff tendinitis (supraspinatus causes upper trap pain) which has gotten better once I started icing. I believe my headaches are just being covered up by Percocet at the moment. It is believed my headaches are caused by the neck tension. I'm starting massage and physical therapy Thur and Fri to get the neck and shoulders properly worked out. My only worry is that my headaches will come back when I taper off of all of the drugs.

There is a possibility that I will redevelop scarring and recur again down the road. Apparently, there is no known way to prevent scarring as it is our body's natural reaction. What my surgeon is trying is to do is minimize inflammation in an attempt to mitigate the scarring. I've been on low-dose Prednisone (steroid) since the first surgery. After the second surgery they gave me IV Toradol, a high dose of Prednisone, and I have been taking low-dose Prednisone and Aspirin since coming home. My right side (not even a week post-op yet) feels about even with my left now.

Hopefully I am on the road to a more permanent recovery. Our first baby (boy) is due at the beginning of June and I really want to be best father and provider I can be. Please keep me in your prayers and I will do the same for all of you.

You will be a fantastic Dad. No more surgery for you...hope you never ever need any more than what you already have gone through. You will be in my prayers, as well as your family. ginnie

I am 3 weeks post op from a first rib resection and doing great!! I am having "normal" post op pain, but already feeling so much better!!

Best of Luck to you Marc- Lets hope this latest surgery does the trick. Cant beleive your baby is due so soon!