I believe that when a person pushes one Dr. all of the time on here it takes away from people finding a good Dr. that may be in their own area.

Since this forum started years ago things have changed in medicine for the better at times anyway. Therefore, I believe there are good Drs. out there close to some of you that need this TOS surgery that can help you in your own areas.

I have ran into 2 people around here that have not had surgery by any of the Drs. in Denver but closer to me and I am only 150 miles away from Denver. I do know there is a good one in Louisville and one in Texas due to knowing of someone who had surgery by the one in Texas and I know Atasoy is in Louisville and he has a good reputation even though his name isn't in the magazines all of the time.

I wish we could all see each other to see what shape some of these people are in that have surgery by different Drs. so we could see if the surgery did do the jobs or not. I think that would be a plus but it's not always possible short of a picture put on here.

It bothers me that it sounds like an advertisment here for a Dr. that people cannot even talk to on the phone.

I have a PCP that stays in his office until 10 at night calling back patients. I know that Dr. Sanders does call and email even though he is busy. Maybe money isn't an issue with certain Drs. and they care about their patients enough to answer some questions that could be answered on the phone.

There are Drs. out there who care besides doing the surgeries on people. Don't ever think there isn't and they will take the time to talk to you wheather they are busy or not. That is the craziest statement I have ever heard in my life. If they are any good they won't talk to you on the phone.

I believe that each and every one of you that are looking for surgery know to ask questions, ask if you can talk to some of the patients the Drs. have done surgery on. I am blessed to live in Co and I have ran into people who have had surgeries by each Dr. so I have answers I need but I realize it's harder for each and everyone of you that don't live in Co. Do ask though if you can speak to some of these patients even if the Dr. has to ask them to call you if they want their privacy.

As far as Ozzy, I do hope you find a Dr. close by to you so you won't have to travel to Denver.

There are a lot of people who aren't made of money to make 3 or 4 trips.

As I said, I realize this forum is to help people with TOS but don't get caught up in the hype of which Dr. is better then the other. Look close to home first.

Ada

Ada- you are really right. There are good doctors around everywhere, and the numbers for TOS are thankfully growing. I have struggled so much with this because I am in LA where there are several highly qualified surgeons. I was torn between rib and no rib, since I have a pretty straightforward case of vascular/neuro but no cervical rib. I have been working a lot over the past few months to figure out what will be the right answer for me....

I have come to the conclusion that I would like to have as many diagnostic tests as possible because it will make me more comfortable if 5 different docs all tell me, yes we can do a successful surgery based on [our favorite test results]. I figure the more pictures of whatever sort there are, the better chances of anatomical anomalies being known before cutting me open. I am very fortunate to have the means and the time to be able to travel all over getting this done...

In the end, I expect I will follow me neuro's original advice (he is a top TOS doc, after all) And I even set a date yesterday assuming I will find what I expect to find on my upcoming trip to Denver. I will go with one of my local Los Angeles surgeons who is very highly regarded and get the rib resection. However, the part where I know I did my homework makes me much more comfortable with this decision than if I had just taken the advice blindly.

I guess what I men is, everyone has to find there own way. I do believe you should not have surgery with someone who has only done a few TOS rib resections. I think most of the current top TOS surgeons (ahn, brantigan, sanders, annest, for ex) worked with the original TOS surgeons (machleder and roos) for years, and now have junior partners (ahn has Reil, and I know brantigan has someone) who have and will continue to work with them for years learning the proper way. My neuro did tell me he sees a difference in scar tissue left behind for each surgeon, even those doing the exact same proceedure. A good one will leave behind minimal scar tissue. We all know that scar tissue is key in these surgeries. A bad surgeon can cause horrendous scar tissue problems, even on a simple surgery.

I would also echo that you need to receive adequate care from your doc...but whether or not he is a nice guy is secondary to whether or not he is a good surgeon. If you can find both...you are lucky, indeed!!!

Ozzy- I really hope there is someone close to you who can adequately perform the surgery. I do think Cervical ribs are an easy decision...here in the US you would be reccommended for surgery. They would porbably take your cervical ribs and your first rib when they did it. I don't know if I would be comfortable with someone who had only removed one set.

Bettertoser- I knwo you mean well to give poeple advice based on your experience, but you do have a way of being abrasive and confrontational. Some of your scomments might be better received if you kept that in mind. (I know sometimes I come on here and I want to comment but I don't have enough energy to be very thoughtful in my posts...just get out what I want to say and move on before my arms fall off. That can really be an issue and sometimes on those days i just don't post at all unless i think my comments are very very valuable bc i don't want to step on people's toes) I appreciate your experiences and it makes me very happy to know that there are people out there who are feeling better after surgery. I really hope to be one of them soon. Thanks for letting us know you are out there, and that you like Dr B so much. I am sure he is a very talented doctor and I look forward to meeting him.

Ihtos-It must have been totally frustrating to have Dr B's office tell you he would call and then have him not call. That is a very tough thing to deal with from far away, and a valuable thing for others to consider. It would be different if his office gave you an answer or said 'we can't help you' or 'dr b is really busy this week/month'. Have you tried to talk to them since to have some explanation? Your story is certainly not one I have heard from anyone else on this board (not to say it hasn't happened). [how are you btw..any closer to surgery?]

to all- good luck and happy low pain day to you.
I havne't proofed this post, so I hope i followed my own advice and didn't say anything too abrasive....bc my arms sure do hurt.


Johanna

Yes i'll do that right now.

I sent you a PM Johannakat!!

Hey guys just thought Id let you know that im a she! Mum of 3. Ozzy prob sounds manish but my last name is osborn and im an aussie thats why I use that name. sorry if i confused anyone.

Oh sorry Ozzy - thanks for letting us know.

I have that same problem in the flash chat -sometimes you just can't tell by the name until someone mentions a reference as to male or female.

best of luck finding the appropriate doc down there for the dx/surgery. I haven't had surgery, but i have seen a pain mgmt doc (who happens to be a neurologist) who referred me to a vascular surgeon who referred me to a neuro surgeon. None of the above recommended surgery right away, so for the last 6mo-8mo, my pain doc has been one of my best friends. If you haven't seen a dr. that specializes in pain management, I would try to. My dr. thinks he knows the problem, and we're trying everything non-surgical to eliminate as much as we can. Thats the approach that I happen to like. good luck tho...

I just tell it like it is. No more and no less then anyone else here talking about their docs.

I work in Denver in medicine and I see the great success stories of his work, they are mostly trauma surgery patients that would be dead if not for him. TOS is not a deadly disease. Working in medicine helps to understand the priorities.

Having something like TOS, and asking any doctor that does that type of trauma surgery, to call back "maybe" patients may not be a priority. I see nothing wrong with it. I would rather see a doctor that does life saving surgery spend their time doing just that, saving lives. Docs like him certainly have enough to do, so people trying to recruit patients for them is something they don't need help with.

If you want ANY doctor to help you then make an appointment, establish a doctor patient relationship. This is for any type of doctor anywhere for anything. Then the patient would have a legit reason to question why the doctor didn't call back. This goes for ANY doctor.

Each person has to decide for themselves to see whom they want. If others want to read posts on docs they can, if not, they can choose not too. It's up to THAT person. Just as it is to pick whom they want to see no matter what anyone said here. It would be nuts to not do research on as many docs as one wants too before seeing any doctor for any reason. I guess one just has to weigh the facts, phone skills VS successful surgery?

This will be my last post to this thread.