The pulmonary embolism could very well be a factor. Do you have a spirometer? You need to make sure you lung capacity is up to snuff before doing any cardio. I didn't do any cardio for months after my surgery. Also, learn to breath through your nose and not your mouth.

In my opinion, your PT should be doing therapy that encourages proper shoulder girdle positioning (not merely massaging your shoulder). Muscle imbalances (quite likely before and probably worse after surgery) can make the scaps, pecs, shoulders, and neck a rubix cube.

Tomorrow is my daughter's 6 weeks anniversary post surgery! In some ways it seems a lot longer than that. I'm so glad that time is over!!!!

She moved back to the dorms and seems to be doing well. Last week she had some pain in her shoulder, but the pt has been doing heat theraphy and Dr Pearl called her in some muscle relaxers and they seem to be helping. She isn't letting that get her down. She seems to be listening to me about not overdoing with her left arm. I wonder what the pt will have her doing now that she is at the 6 week mark.

Romans8: Hope things are going better for you this week Don't forget that I am still praying for you! I would still try to talk to Dr Pearl about your situation.

Nottherightkindofdr: Hope things are going well for you. I know that you are probably back at college too. I've been thinking about you

Losinghope & Cltbaseball09: Thanks for your updates....It's always great to hear from other Dr Pearl patients.

I will update more later. Everyone take care and have a great week

TOSmother, when I got on this site tonight I thought to myself I have not heard from TOSmother in a while so it was good to see you check in. I have a daughter at college who is having medical issues (not TOS serious) so I know how you feel. I am so glad she has her life back. Thank you for your continued prayers. I believe in the power of faith and prayer.

I have done a lot better this week. My local doc put me on a Medrol dose pack and I started taking Neurotin again and I feel much better. I have been much better able to tolerate PT and have even started doing some bands. It will take a long time to rebuild my shoulder and scapula but it is nice to feel like I am moving in the right direction. I did try to text Dr. P twice but never got a reply which I thought was strange. Maybe after we get outside a certain time frame from surgery he stops responding to people. I hope not because I am half a country away and cannot afford an office visit. Hopefully I will not need one any time soon.

LH, Baseball and others I hope you are also doing well.

Read today that Chris Carpenter will miss the 2013 season and his career is probably over. Reoccurring TOS issues is the blame. Sad to see. I had surgery about the same time as him, and used his results to measure my own. Being a huge baseball fan, it's sad to hear this news. Hope he has good health in retirement.

I read the same thing today. Very sad for him Maybe too much too soon, or there were other underlying issues.

I think we all are kind of sad by the news today! When I saw the headlines, I didn't want to read it. I knew it was bad news and we all had been using his recovery as hope for ours....but I'm not going to get discouraged and I don't think that any of you should either. I mean...we (my daughter) are just regular people who don't use their arms for pitching....or anything else strenuous like he does/did. There is another pitcher, Matt Harrison, who also had the surgery back in 2009 and he is still pitching for the Rangers and is doing great. Cat Osterman, also a pitcher, had this surgery too. She is back to pitching. Everyone is different....

On a brighter note....this is week 8 for my daughter. She is doing really well. At p/t today she was able to do full motion with her arm!!! They have also added more weight. She called me afterwards nearly in tears! Such a blessing!

I hope everyone is doing well. Take care and have a great week!

Seven months post surgery for me and couldn't be happier with the results, but it almost feels like a personal set back having read about Carpenter. Reminds me of how fickle TOS can be. I wish all success in getting through this disease.

I'm glad to hear that your daughter is making is making good progress.

As for the Carpenter story, I was kind of shocked but then again I wasn't. After I had my surgery I couldn't believe how fast he came back to pitching. I think he came back at about 3 months post op! I'm afraid he didn't give his body time to heal properly and it may cost him the rest of his career especially at his age.

The high school team I coach is in full swing and we had our first scrimmage last night so I have been throwing batting practice almost daily and that is usually around 300-400 pitches each day. I have had to "sit out" a couple of days because I had severe pain after just warming up with my assistant coach. What I have learned over the past few weeks at practice is that I'm not ready to throw "hard" just yet. The good thing is I don't have a reason to throw hard anymore. Throwing batting practice is easy because I don't have to throw hard. I just have to be accurate. I'm a little over 3 months post op and I don't see how Carpenter came back and pitched in such a short time. I hope everything works out for him. I think we can all learn a little lesson from this and that is don't rush yourself in your recovery. I am going to try and cut down my load for the next few weeks because this does have me a little scared since I have been throwing so much and I am in pain every day when I get home. Luckily the pain isn't bad but it's there. Overall I feel like I keep improving daily and it's nice to be able to throw and feel a baseball without my hand being numb or turning blue.

I hope everyone is doing well and feeling well.

[QUOTE=(Broken Wings);954666

This was a reply to your post roman8. I cut it off. IPad thing is thought tough to post with.
]Hey, romam8,

Sorry it's been so long to post and read on TOS. I have been overwhelmed.

As I've stated many times: life keeps coming at ya, like a freight train. Right?

How about you? How have you been getting along?

I have improved even more. I can drive three to four hours and then back home, with minor exacerbation. (To Louisville for dr appointments and the grandchildren).

I may take off to the beach any day now.

It could happen. I long to hear the ocean sounds, both day and night. Just one more time, please!!!

I got involved in a hit and run Dec 2011. I got rear ended again. he ran like a drug running criminal!!!

I did need to go back and see Dr. Atasoy. He and Candi are retiring. .

I don't know where to go when he officially retires. Afraid I'll get jacked up in the wrong hands. So many caregivers don't have a clue about the reckoning of TOS to a patient. Scary

I would scoot my way down the Mt. Parkway to Dr. Atasoy, cuz I couldn't crawl with TOS :

Back on Baclofen daytime, zanaflex nighttime and Lidoderm patches. Using lights regularly again. Hopefully, will be off those soon. I also acquired a neuro stimulator. It helps. Not like the lights, though.

Pain from TOS is rarely a 4, so I feel blessed.

I do like the LED and infrared light therapy pads I have told you all about from time to time. they are great.

I am very stubborn and take on a lot more than I should. I refer to it as getting over the humps nowadays, the hump, the hump, the hump...

When I do visit our blessed TOS forum, I quickly become more depressed. It's a lot of bad memories, all those years. And yes, it was pure hell!! 24/7, 71/2 years of it. I don't want to go back there, at all. So many of my TOS buddies here are still at a high rate of pain. It's horrible to be stricken with TOS. I feel your pain. I know where you're at. You're not alone.

A lot more recognition needs to be given for the debilitating conditions TOS and scalenes has associated with it.

I had other miserable things to deal with, too. Back pain is miserable pain. 24/7... Headaches to the point of pucking. Neck is probably in the worst anatomical shape. Still, surgery was not recommended for my neck, and a few more to deal with.

Things happen for a reason. I accept all that.

I've come a long way, and I give God the praise for it. It has humbled me, at times. It has made a fierce fighter out of me. So, I don't know how to put words to the destruction TOS did to my world. I could have overcame the others, I believe, if it wasn't for the scalenes and TOS factor always present. All of which I could've lived without.

I still haven't found my old self yet. Rarely, I feel normal with so many scars from all that I went through. Very rare. And I'm not a better person because of it, either.

I don't know how I survived. For many years, in the dark early morning hours, it was just me, my dog and God. Sad but true, I accidentally ran over my dog in March 2006. Bad day!!!

We just recently brought a kitten home. For years I wouldn't have another pet because I felt so bad about losing my Mag, and running over her didn't help matters.

We named him Kitty Boss Cat, cuz he's the boss. He has brought much joy to our hearts. He is quite the cat... Spoiled is what he is.

And the train keeps coming... :

Now I'm dealing with hubby. He fell 4th of July, 2012. He suffered a broken neck, stroke, and concussion. We just don't get off easy here at our home. Bad packs a wallop around here. It was very bad. I thank God he's able to get around, drive some, light cooking. He is a fighter. I am well prepared to care for his needs. I have lots of therapeutic means to offer him.

We struggle, with me having to be the strong one now, the driver for now...
Still working every day. Not as much, though, for many reasons...

Hubby is number one right now. I'll do what I have to do to see him through this. He is really having it rough.

We did discover neuro visual rehab for him. Didn't know it existed till now. It's very promising.

Sorry... I'm rambling again.

Take care and let me know how you're doing.

I couldn't imagine having to go through the rigorous training the MLB players have to experience, much less trying to recover after surgery that we've had. Hopefully, for him he will at least be able to heal once he takes some time off. Even if he doesn't have his career, maybe he can still gain his life back without pain.

I'm so happy to hear your daughter is doing so great. She must be doing really well to have introduced weights in her PT at this point. Good for her!!! You both must be so excited that she is getting back to herself again

Best to you all in your continuing recovery