Dr. Donahue often does the pec minor with the first rib resection and scalenectomy is my understanding. Did you not also have this done? Six months isn't that far out, I think it really takes a year to return to "normal". What are your symptoms? I got "costrochondritis" basically just from all the shifting around from the pec minor and then the botox. How are you worse? Also, what is new vs. old? I have surgery coming up, very soon....

I frickin' diagnosed myself with pec minor syndrome off of info from these boards and the internet. I sent my records to Dr. sanders and scheduled a bilateral pec minor release. I went and then was officially diagnosed by Dr. sanders, but again, this is after I had already scheduled the surgery...two days before in fact. I flew to Denver for this surgery.

The St. Nicholas House Hotel is across from the hospital and is for hospital guests at $58.00 per night. If you fly in, you will probably need to rent a car, especially because Dr. sanders and Dr. mechanics offices are not located by the hospital, not in walking distance. You could probably take a cab, but the airport is away from the hotel/hospital.

Oh, they were both out of the office for the past three weeks. I would try again.

Hi there Glad ur seeing some light at end of tunnel.
Was wondering if u got botox for tos or pec minor? Do u know if Dr. D. Treats or Dx peck minor syndrome?

Yes, both I believe. He made a special note that they weren't going to botox the pec minor because I had the pec minor release done in December 2013.

I found. Doctor here that does botox, but only as a diagnosis. They are going to do bilateral anterior scale botox at 90 days from the first shots. I still have surgery scheduled. Surgery is sort of dependent on my finances at this point.

[QUOTE=Eight;1082919]Yes, both I believe. He made a special note that they weren't going to botox the pec minor because I had the pec minor release done in December 2013.

I found. Doctor here that does botox, but only as a diagnosis. They are going to do bilateral anterior scale botox at 90 days from the first shots. I still have surgery scheduled. Surgery is sort of dependent on my finances at this point.[/QUOTE

So, did Dr Donahue do your Pec minor release? Do most drs use Botox just for dx vs. maintenance? What about PT for TOS?
I saw a Dr Lee a Hand/BP nerve Ortho Specialist at mgh recently & told him what Dr Sanders says that 75% of people who have tos also have Pec minor syndrome.
Dr Lee said that's bunch of bull!!!! He only did this surgery on one pt.
Who do u believe?
Is all this info. On google just to get your business, makes u wonder!
Thanks tor the info.

Let's start with I have bilateral TOS from a car accident in 2003. I also had right side Erbs Palsy at birth which resolved itself by age three months. I think I also may have had Klumpkes Palsy.

Dr. Annest and Dr. Sanders did my Pec Minor Release. I scheduled the pec minor release surgery, and then went to Denver for both this surgery and to meet Dr. Sanders, Dr. Annest, and Dr. Machenic for the first time. I had bilateral pec minor syndrome and I have bilateral TOS. Dr. Sanders was the first one to see me, and after examining me and giving me first a pec minor block with lidocaine on the left side and then an anterior lidocaine block on the left side diagnosed me with the fore mentioned.

Dr. Sanders told me that I needed both the pec minor release and the first rib resection and scalenectomy bilateral. He offered me the choice of waiting and having it all done at once in February, which was the next available opening, or to have the Pec Minor Release as scheduled in two days when I was there and coming back in February to have the first rib resection and scalenectomy done then. I chose to have the pec minor release then and the rest in February.

I did not recover well from the pec minor release. This was done in December 2013. It was not that the surgery itself had any problems, it was just that my recovery took much much longer than expected. Also, I forgot to tell them that I had Erbs Palsy at birth. This resolved itself, but this shows up on my nerve conduction tests, and it cannot be determined if this is from the current injury or my injury at birth. These two reasons combined are the reasons that Dr. Sanders and Dr. Annest cancelled my other surgeries. Dr. Sanders called me in April because I had called the office requesting the surgeries again, so I guess he may have been reconsidering my surgeries, but by then I was scheduled for botox, CAT scan, office visit with Dr. Donahue at MGH, so I didn't push the issue.

To answer your question about PT, I have done PT on and off for ten years with the primary focus being my poor posture. The pec minor release fixed my poor posture instantly. I still have issues with head forward position, but my shoulders are literally 3-4 inches back from where they once were. This was amazing! However, I had all kinds of neck pain, because it was a HUGE change in my anatomy. For ten years I felt like a complete failure in PT working on exercises to strengthen muscles, but not until I had the pec minor release scheduled did anybody do anything to help relax the pec minor. I had a PT dry needle my pec minor within a month or two of the surgery, painful as hell but it did give me some symptom relief.

My big question for you Rhonda, is why did you go to MGH and not see Dr. Donahue, lol?

Okay, so to give an update on my journey to the promised land....

My first bilateral anterior scalene botox was done on May 5. On June 19, I had bilateral median scalene botox. Felt pretty awesome for about ten days, kinda overdid things, had a flare, and it felt like the anterior shots went away. Scheduled surgery in September on left side. Found a doctor close to where I live that does anterior and median scalene botox as a diagnostic procedure only. Talked him into doing the anterior scalene botox, this is scheduled in the middle of August. He said if that botox goes well he will do the middle scalenes four weeks later. He is going to get my records from Dr. Donahue in the meantime.

My original plan was to get 3-4 rounds of botox, and do PT during that time to see if it will rid me if symptoms so much so as that I do not need surgery. When I felt as though the first shots wore off so quickly, I decided to just have surgery.

Today is 76 days past the first botox shots, aka the day I felt my fingertips, lol. Botox is supposed to last between 90-180 days, with the duration of effectiveness increasing over time.

At this time, my left anterior scalene is tight again. The left side is my bad side. I can feel it, and it is very very hard. The right side is not as bad. I can feel its hardness when I push in, but it does not stick out and push into my clavicle like the left side. In case anybody is wondering, I feel the anterior scalene by looking away from the side that I am trying to feel while siting or standing. So to feel the left anterior scalene, I turn my head to the right, so much so as to look over my right shoulder.

At this time, I am giving consideration to continuing the botox shots and postponing surgery. At this point, I am hopeful that I might be able to not have surgery on the right side, but think I almost certainly will need it on the left.

Postponing the surgery is primarily due my finances and not getting fired from my job due to missing too much work as I only have 7 weeks of FMLA left, and was told I will be off work for three months following the surgery. Being a single mom, not working for so long isn't really an option. I have applied for disability, and if I am approved, I will happily move forward with the surgery as scheduled. Hopefully, in the meantime I do not have an artery rupture, because a stroke or a hand that doesn't work won't help my finances either. God bless the Social Security Disability system!