It does. But keep your head up, as hard as it is. Maybe you can try to make a pros/cons list on doing surgery? That is what I did and it really helped me in making my decision.

pro:
Mass General #1
Doctor D #1
Chance at a better life
I will never know for sure unless I do it.
I am young now.
I would not have flown to Dr. D if I didn't want a go at this.

con:
It may make me worse (this seems unlikely and I'll get worse without having surgery it seems).
physical therapy may be better (physical therapy can be tried after surgery too though)
expensive (physical therapy is just as expensive in the long term)
disrupts life (my life is already disrupted by TOS)
painful (i'm already in pain, this could potentially end pain)
scared (life is scary anyway)

It sounds like even if you didn't make this list, your mind is made up, you just haven't realized it. Go for surgery then? The pros sound better than the cons in your list that is for sure. But remember this, physical therapy may be life long regardless whether you have the surgery in order to maintain everything to keep from recurrence of symptoms AFTER the physical therapy during the initial recovery. But then again, eventually once you learn a bunch of helpful techniques, you can make it part of your daily home regime like many people have, and see a therapist here and there.

Maybe I'll see you at Mass Gen... My surgery with Dr. D is July 18 right when he returns to Boston. He is gone for the first 2 weeks.

Keep us posted on your surgery & recovery

I will. I'll continue to post on my thread of any/all updates

Heybro-it sounds like you are leaning towards surgery again-but its good that you took this time to decide. You can always do the surgery-you still have that option. A couple of more months to decide wont be the worst thing.What would be worse if you rushed into it. If Dr. D thinks you are a good candidate-thats a good thing. Good Luck!

Under "pros" you forgot to add:

Likely to help based on CT scan results.

Right?

My ribs can creep up on me over time. Then I go to the chiro and he smacks them back down after which I feel fairly normal.

<<<Under "pros" you forgot to add:

Likely to help based on CT scan results.

Right?>>

True that.

i swear my ribs elevate from clenching my jaw and mouth breathing

i need to sleep with my arms straight


people who have the worst recovery have like latent rsd just waiting to jump out of hiding, if you have neuropathy anywhere else i would not get surgery