First the good news:

My wife delivered our first child (it's a healthy boy!) Friday night!

My TOS symptoms are effectively resolved for the time being. My grip strength is better than anytime in the last few years. Ulnar numbness is minimal. Botox was effective in bringing my SCM tension under control.

My neck pain w/headaches and low back pain have been steadily increasing. X-ray has shown lumbar facet joint arthrosis and the same is suspected for the cervical spine and subsequent headaches. Facet joint syndrome is often used as the diagnosis. A 3-day course of Toradol got me through the last few days but the progression resumed as soon I stopped. Medial branch blocks with steroid have had no long term benefit. I'm back to taking Valium & Celebrex w/Percocet as needed as I am trying to get RF ablation repeated on cervical facets and performed on lumbar. I had RF on cervical branches 6 months ago which likely had been wearing off but I never noticed since I was on Percocet post surgery.

I hope the RF does the trick (it worked the first time) and the combination of Botox and RFA every 3-6 months or so can get me back to work and stay there. Physically I am quite capable with no limitations, but the chronic pain is just debilitating.

Big Congratulations on your baby boy Marc!!! I hope you continue to feel better!

Congratulations on your baby! Having a child has been the highlight of my life; I hope your son brings you great joy.

I feel for you on the symptoms. I find the continuous neck pain and headache debilitating. I can behave like a human until I have a bad headache and then it's really difficult. I hope you have some luck getting your pain under control.

Take care,
Kelly

congrats on your baby boy. You are going to make a wonderful dad. I hope you continue to feel better, and that your strength is going to come back 100%. You will need all you got for that baby!!!! Give your wife my best wishes. Now you get some sleepless nights ginnie

Congrats on the baby news Marc, that is amazing and super exciting
So sorry to hear you are still struggling with ongoing pain in the neck and head, keep your hopes up and stay strong!

Congrats on the baby, hope all is well. Good luck, I hope RF does the trick. My wife gets injections every 6 months or so in her back for her pain.

Update:

TOS is in remission for now but remaining problems (neck pain amd headache) are likely C4-C5 stenosis (adjacent disc disorder to previous fusion).

Diagnostic block injections failed so RF was not repeated. Epidural injection has also failed. I am scheduled for a CT Myelogram since my fusion hardware is obscuring the MRI imaging. I am wary of more fusion surgery due to risk of more adjacent disc issues. I am hoping perhaps a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure is an option.

I'm still on disability and it appears unlikely I will be returning to work for now. I have started titrating onto the fibro drug Savella since I can't tolerate Cymbalta. The ultimate goal is to avoid more surgery even if it means not returning to work.

Hi Marc, reading this thread and just have to say thumbs up for your courage, perseverance and can do spirit. Need to get the same to face the TOS challenge.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery from India

You know Justin Brown came to UCSD after working g with Dr Thompson in St Louis right? And be works with a cardiothoracic surgeon if he does bone needs to be removed. Like Dean Donahue's specialty.


[QUOTE=Anne4tos;863348]Marc:

I understand you don't like the UC system, but you may want to consider taking a look at Justin Brown @ UCSD

Hi Marc, thank you so much for sharing your story... I had a few questions and would love to hear your thoughts:

-You mentioned that you originally tested positive for venous tos. Which test confirmed that? My doctor wants me to have a venogram and IVUS, but since they're both invasive, it makes me nervous.

-Clinically, it seems pretty clear that I have venous tos. I feel like the venogram and IVUS would simply confirm the clinical exams. Do you think that it's necessary?

Hope everything is continuing to get better and better for you.