i was wondering how much time will it take for me to recover from the surgery?? how long will i be in the hospital as well?
also, when will i be able to do physical activity again such as exercise? did anyone experience a lot of weight gain or lost because of laying around or pain meds? I have the surgery in less then two weeks and I am starting to get pretty nervous.
Does anyone who have any advice as to what will make recovery better or things that make the pain lessen??

Your surgeon didn't give you any idea of avg hospital stay or avg recovery time for this surgery? Do you have another appt before the surgery so you can ask?

Did you find a skilled TOS surgeon?

Hospital & recovery -
It is so hard to say, everyone is different, some are in hosp for a day or 2 and some need to stay a week.
Same with post op recovery, some do very well and some heal slower or have more pain.
Just a avg time frame- about 2-3 weeks?? until some light activities can be started again.
Exercise is hard to say, some kinds OK but weights or strenuous stuff probably not for awhile.

I think being as healthy as you can be going into surgery always helps, healthy foods and maybe some vitamins /supplements, toss the junk food etc..

he actually gave me a little bit but i have not gotten all the information from him, he mostly talked to my mom about what was going on!
I am going to be talking to him a little bit in about a week, and yes he has performed a lot of the surgeries so thankfully i am not too nervous about having it done!
ok thanks thats not too bad of a recovery time, but i really don't eat junk food now.. i exercise a lot and eat well so I am hoping that will make the recovery a little bit easier!

I was in the hospital 3 nights. I was really out of it for about 6 weeks. I was in a great deal of pain and didn't start driving for 2 months.

My surgery was not successful so I haven't been able to return to exercise or work. Even before surgery my doctor said I shouldn't go back to the same work that caused the problem in the first place (attorney) because the risk of re-injury was too great. I noticed you are a data contractor. That would seem like a very difficult line of work to return to.

You seem reluctant to have the surgery. What level of pain are you experiencing? Do you have a cervical rib or other anatomical anomaly or is it neurogenic TOS? Finally, how experienced is your surgeon? You want someone who has done hundreds of these surgeries, not a couple.

Good luck,
Kelly

thanks so much for letting me know! i actually am not a data contractor, i must have messed that up! i am actually starting my freshman year in college in about 6 or 7 weeks! I have heard that people can be in the hospital for up to a week and I am not too excited about that possibility.
I have been dealing with the pain for about four years, I have been to countless physical therapists, pain medications, exercises, anything that can help I have tried it. They finally found out what was wrong with me about a year ago, and I have been putting the surgery off. I have been in pretty intense pain, and I have a pretty high pain tolerance. It is a cervical rib, and honestly I do not know how many of the surgeries he has performed exactly. Is that something me and my parents should inquire about?

Thank you!

There are so many important structures involved, and always a chance that some surprise might show up when the surgeon gets in there.

You don't want someone that does not have the skills & expertise to fix any surprises.

Everyone's case is different. These are questions you should be asking your doctor as they know the averages for their procedure. I often take a notepad to my doctor visits so I won't forget any questions.

I only spent 24 hours in the hospital for each procedure/side. My procedures were transaxillary. I believe supraclavicular procedures are more complete but require a longer hospital stay and maybe a longer recovery time. I did not gain any weight...just avoid junk food. You should be able to walk for physical activity almost immediately.

My recovery has been about 6 weeks per side but many can be as long as 10-12 weeks per side. My doctor said it can take 12 months for full recovery and a complete return to all activities if the procedure is 100% successful.

Sorry, I confused you with someone else. The good news is you have a better chance of a good outcome with cervical ribs. And you're young, which never hurts.

Everyone's recovery is very different. Even under the best of circumstances, if you were my child, I wouldn't want you to have to deal with moving away from home for the first time, acclimating to college, making new friends, carrying backpacks and recovering from surgery. You might be able to do it and be fine, but there's a chance you might have difficulty and that could make your first semester of college a real drag.

Definitely ask lots of questions about your surgeon's experience. My surgeon (who is a cardio-thoracic surgeon in San Francisco) said the surgery occurs on very complicated structures where there is little room for error. Experience with this particular surgery is crucial.


Take care,
Kelly