I wouldn't go back to my pre-surgery life for all the world. I had many painless days compared to others on the Internet. Who knows how long I had a condition because mine was silent and potentially deadly. My first symptom was a blood clot. I know people on here have a lot of bad things to say about surgery and I see the reason for that. But I feel like so far surgery has freed me from the constant worry of not knowing a vascular symptom from a nerve symptom and what to do about it. Having to stay on blood thinners for life is not an option I would choose; and that was my only other choice. I thought, wow, I can either wait for an auto accident to really mess me up or put myself in the hands of a trained surgeon and hopefully enjoy some good years. So far this risk has paid off. I think all the physical therapy in the world is not going to change anatomy, so some of us do not have a better option than surgery. Yes, I am sure being in a car accident would still screw me up, but not to the point where I die from being on blood thinners. I'm told now that my progress is good and I will be off blood thinners soon. I am totally happy with my decision.

Thanks so much for sharing starfish43! Since this post was over 2 years ago, I'm wondering how you're feeling now.

I'd love to hear anyone else's stories specifically about VTOS as well. Reading a lot through the search and finding old posts... So glad to have found this forum. Thanks everyone.