I met with Dr. Pearl today for a presurgery appointment (surgery tomorrow; wish me luck!). He was very friendly and personable, listened to what I said, addressed my concerns and seems very confident about the procedure tomorrow. It was so nice to FINALLY get to talk to a doctor who knows what he is talking about and didn't talk down to me as a patient.
He is very optimistic about recovery time and return to full use of the affected side of the body. Naturally, we will know more after the surgery actually happens, since a lot depends on what they actually find once they open me up, but the plan currently is to remove the cervie rib, the first rib and at least the anterior scalene (right side).
And, when my sister (a big Cardinals fan) hinted that she wondered how Carpenter was doing, he said that Chris is doing great and he expects he'll be pitching wonderfully again after recovery.
I will keep you guys posted on how I feel about him post-op! LOL.

Good luck tomorrow!

Best wishes, hope all goes great.

Good luck tomorrow! I am also having the surgery tomorrow.

Good luck to both!
:grouphug:

Good wishes to you both!
JKL
Keep us posted on your recovery.

Wow
 

Sounds like he's doing pretty good. Athletes have an advantage because there already in good shape, and they tend to get diagnosed earlier, before their body deteriorates too much. It makes rehab faster. Plus, they usually have topnotch doctors and trainers and a good work ethic.

I thought Peyton Manning was down for the count after all his neck issues, but he looked pretty darn good against the Niners the other day.

Chris Carpenter pitched today-5 innings!
 

Pretty funny article-read down to the description of the surgery



http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colum...9bb30f31a.html

Wow! That's awesome!