Yep, keeping working really makes for ongoing problems, do you have options of taking time away for some walking & maybe gentle stretching?

Often some opposite postures will help to re set the muscles a bit.
I may have missed it, what kind of work do you do?
lots of desk /computer work and such?

I did assembly work and would take a few minutes during breaks to stretch in the ladies room they also had a bench so I could lay on it and let my neck & shoulders drop back and relax.
Mainly used Sharon Butler's RSI gentle stretches.

I am a Clinical MA, so i do a lot of computer work but i also room a lot of patients, vitals, injections, blood draws, ect. I take care of 7 doctors and room 3 doctors patients on a daily basis. It's an extremely busy practice so i don't really get much down time. I try to do some small stretching at my desk, i also try to take ice breaks as well and try not to over do it at work but somedays are just crazy or we are under staffed and well it's difficult. I know I need to take care of me first before I can take care of others, I think i'm just not use to not being able to go full speed. I did speak w/ my surgeon tonight and told him whats been going on and i seem to be going down hill, he told me that it's prob. inevitable that i'm going to have to have the surgery. It's just a matter of when. So i spoke w/ him about the details of the surgery, he told me that we can skip the botox all together and go ahead and schedule it or I can still try the botox and see how that works, but he doesn't believe that it's going to do much good. He said that people w/ Cervical ribs do really have a good success rate, generally about 10% if that do well. He said that again w/ my case he believes that surgery is inevitable. I am petrified of anesthesia, it took me three trys to go to the oral surgeon to have a tooth pulled.

I tend to think if there is a clear cut reason for surgery, and c ribs fill the bill for that, putting it off for too long could create more problems than just biting the bullet and having them removed.
Think of the internal rubbing and crowding, that could be causing scar tissue just from the irritation.

If the being put out really bothers you, ask about the possibility of some pre surgical anxiety meds, if you decide to go for surgery.

You'll know when you are ready to decide.

Hi i was wondering are u going to do the operation as i have to do mine 13 october

Well, after thinking about this for a day or two, I think i'm going to tell Dr. Donahue to just get the process started for surgery. It's going to take a while for the surgery to get approved due to this being a Workmans Comp. Case. My other doctor the Neurosurgeon that is here in maine told me that workmans comp is going to fight me on this because i was born w/ the extra ribs. Funny though I never had an issue w/ them or any of these symptoms until i started this job, any who thats a whole different story. So while this battle is occuring, i'm going to see if i can still have the botox done which is scheduled for OCT. 4 because like I said i'm pretty sure that it's going to be a battle for these people to pay. That way i'll be able to see if the botox will give me any relief in the mean time. I was discussing this with husband, (after i broke down and cried) I need to get someone else's opinion on this who see's me everyday and see's how much i suffer. To reassure me that i'm not making a hasty decision while in pain. He said " Botox is only temporary, I think that you need to get this fixed so you can be yourself again, I hate seeing you in pain and i know that you are very uncomfortable, so lets just do it and we will take it a day at a time."

Mrs. J do you have cervical ribs? who are you having surgery w/ ?

Yes, getting it approved w/ WC is a biggie.
Do you have a really on the ball comp atty on your side?

The main focus would be to prove that the injury /TOS came after the job.

I believe in the past a few went ahead & had the surgery after trying for a long time to get it approved w/wc and wc deny. I think they then sent to bill to wc after the surgery for approval after the fact.

It's been so long I can't recall all of it.
And some details were not posted due to it being an active ongoing claim at the time.
Sometimes wc will do internet searches esp. if high dollar claims/cases, so specifics/ identifying info best not posted publicly.

Yeah, i agree, less said about the W/C is better. I didn't realize that they would go to that extent. I put the call in to Donahue's office this afternoon, Left a message saying i want to go ahead and do the surgery and i also asked if i could still do the botox, i'll see what he has to say tomorrow. I really don't think i've been this terrified in a long time. There is just so many things running through my mind, am I making the decision? WHY ME? What can go wrong? Am I going to come out worse then when i went in? I am miserable now, Why is this so difficult? Can we say anxiety...

Hey Miss Jill, if it makes you feel any better, general anesthesia is different than dental/oral surgery anesthesia - I had horrible experiences with dental work (drugs like novacaine don't seem to affect me as strongly as they should) and with wisdom tooth removal, but my TOS anesthesia and surgery (almost 8 weeks ago now) went very smoothly.

Anesthesia is a science, and it is extremely safe and effective nowadays. Anesthesiologists use a combination of drugs to ensure that you are unconscious, unaware of pain, but breathing and circulating normally. No surgeon is going to make an incision without you being fully anesthetized (unlike oral surgery) because (aside from ethical implications) they need you completely still. :-)
A lot of the injectable drugs that are used are completely reversible, which means that if something unexpected did start to go wrong, they can inject you with the reversal and wake you right back up. Inhaled gas anesthesia exits your body through respiration within minutes after they take you off of it. If you are nervous about the anesthesia, ask to speak with the anesthesiologist prior to your procedure and have him/her explain what the plan is for you.

I had cervical ribs (well, I still do on the left side) and I am extremely glad I got the surgery done. I'm already much better off than I was prior to surgery. I wish I'd had it done years ago. And if my left side starts acting up, I won't hesitate to have surgery done to remove that one, too.

Good luck to you!

I thought of another question to ask....had you tried a chiropractor to help with the symptoms? I know that I read that you had tried lots and lots of things before you found Dr Pearl.....my parents want my daughter to try their chiro before surgery. I am willing to try anything. I did talk to him and he said that he has treated lots of tos and only one patient went on to have the surgery. My daughter just doesn't want anyone to hurt her more than she is already hurting. Any suggestions or experiences?

thank you and I love reading your posts....you give us all hope! To look back to your post in June....you have made a complete turn around. Amazing. And awesome!

Spoke w/ Dr. Donahue today and i'm going to still have the Botox on Oct. 4 but we are going to go ahead and get the surgery scheduled. As soon as i talked with him I felt much better. This feeling of relief came over me I explained my fear of going under anesthesia and I also think that he could hear it in my voice that I was scared, he talked me right through everything and told me what i was feeling was all normal. Then suggested pre surgical anti anxiety meds for me. I agreed that would be a good idea. LOL.

Thank you for the info losinghope! that does make me feel much better