So, after meeting with Dr. Thompson today, we decided that I am a good candidate for surgery. On March 11, I'm set to have an anterior and middle scalenectomy, cervical and 1st rib resection, brachial plexus neurolysis, and bilateral pec minor tenotomy. Whew, sounds like a lot!

I have a little under 3 months to prepare for the surgery. Any advice would be appreciated. Like things I need to do in advanced, or be prepared for discharge.

Does anyone recommend flying vs driving post-op? It's a 6 hour drive for us. I'm not sure how I will handle it.

Any suggestions for hotel accommodations for my fiance? I'm hoping I can get a private room so she can stay with me and us avoid the expense of a hotel. And there's the Barnes-Jewish lodge.

Any advice or insight is welcome!

If someone is driving for you i think it will be the best way. I did flight when i had mine and it was really uncomfortable on these tights seat + luggage + you have to walk with 1000 others people ++. Surgery was at 2000 milles from my place so had to flight but if i was in your situation i will ask someone to drive me.

Alexis

Dr. Thompson did my surgery (cervical, first rib, and scalene resection and subclavian artery repair) in June 2012. I had a positive experience and have been doing well since surgery.

I was in the hospital 4 nights and then stayed 2 more nights at the Parkway Hotel after I was discharged before I could head home (needed to be there for follow-up appointments to get my drainage tube out and to meet with one of their physical therapists). My parents stayed at the Parkway the whole time I was in the hospital, and it really was very convenient since it is attached to the hospital. You can get a special rate if you are a patient or family/friend of a patient.

I would also recommend driving home. I am about 4 1/2 hours from St. Louis, and it wasn't a pleasant ride home (my mom drove), but it was definitely much better than trying to get on a plane.

As far as after the surgery, it's rough for a while. I had to be pretty careful to stay on top of the pain, but I was off pain meds by about a month out. PT was extremely helpful for me. Dr. Thompson's PT coordinated with mine at home which I think helped a lot. I was off work almost 5 weeks and could have probably used about another week. It just took a while to get my energy back and to get back on a normal sleep schedule, etc. Obviously it's been a while for me now, but I'm doing much better than before my surgery - less muscular pain, no worry about the aneurysm I had before it was repaired, no weird postures trying to compensate for the extra bones, etc. I'm very glad that I went through with it. I was extremely impressed by Dr. Thompson and his staff. I felt like I was in very good hands the whole time.

I did find that during the few months leading up the surgery I had a lot of anxiety - I guess that's probably pretty normal. It definitely doesn't mean that anything is going to go wrong. I had a lot of fear, but everything went very smoothly in my case.

I wish you all the best!

If you fly have someone with you - wife would be good. Also, get a wheelchair in the airport - my legs worked so my mom said I didn't need a wheelchair. I started bawling and walked away from her to the wheelchair office. Was so glad I did this.