It's been exactly three weeks since I had surgery. After surgery I used the pain pump for the first 24 hours and then stopped taking any narcotics at all because I was totally pain free. In fact, when I left the hospital I felt so good that I really overdid it the first few days. I wound up pretty achy and decided meds really did help!

So, I found my experience to be much easier than what I'd heard reading here. I know everyone is different, but I was very anxious about pain and pain management prior to surgery. As I recover, I get occasional aches, but it's positively exhilarating to wake up and fall asleep, and go through the day without the nagging, debilitating pain in my neck, traps, and shoulder (oh, and arm and hands, too). I can't tell you how fortunate I feel. I read on a post here that someone said that they didn't want to be one of those people who acted like they loved their surgeon. I guess "love" is a strong word, but I can tell you that I feel amazingly lucky to have found my surgeon. He calls regularly to check up on me. I had some ulnar nerve paralysis that has resolved, but his office and team responded immediately. I think if you're going to let someone cut you open and operate around nerves, that it behooves you to feel very good and confident about that persons skill level. Not quite "love", but I feel very good about having Dr. Donahue on my side.
I have spent over 30 years with this pain (from a congenitally malformed first rib), and I feel like I have another shot at life.

I still nap a lot and things are getting pretty boring (I've been a "clean house" tyrant, as it's one of the few things I can kind of control with my family). There are occasional twinges of pain, especially now that things are blooming in the northeast and my allergies have me sneezing. Sneezing and laughing remind me that I've just had major surgery! I'm going to try and make a big dinner over the weekend, so we'll see how that goes--I may wind up putting my head down and falling asleep at the dinner table!

Anyway, I wish everyone out there the same outcome that I've had--mostly, that you get to find a solution to your TOS problems and get to experience being pain free. Gentle hugs to all!