It's been a while - but I have promised an update.

I had 1st rib removal (right side) the end of March. I had some sort of reaction (which was pretty scarey stuff...) in pre-op however surgery went on as scheduled. Surgery took about two hours and after a few hours in recovery I was sent to the 'step down unit' for two days. My post-op notes read something about a 'division of the right diaphragm' which is apparently why they had to keep me the extra day.

Pain control in the hospital was pretty good. The pain pump I had at first made me quite sick and then the IV fell out, but once I got on oral meds I was doing pretty good. I am still on painkillers - Oxycodone, Oxycontin and Toradol as well as Gabapentin. I will admit, the pain appears to be worse now then before surgery which can be a bit tough to handle at times.

Despite the pain I have noticed some dramatic improvements...as soon as I was in the recovery room my hand had much better circulation - the color and temperature were vastly improved!

So I slept a lot after surgery, watched lots of movies and took it easy. I lost about 15 lbs out of the gate then I ended up with pneumonia...the antibiotics made me pretty sick but I have seemed to have recovered from that.

I am working with a physiotherapist now and a cranio sacral MT and will start back with my regular MT at the end of the month. I am still off work and my doc figures that I will be for at least 6 more months. I find the most time I can spend at the computer is about an hour.

I have been making some strides with my insurance companies...however my application for LTD was denied and I was told I should already be back at work and that the max recovery time is 8 weeks! HAHA

I want to thank everyone for their concern and well wishes. I have lots of questions as I recover and I hope everyone will continue to offer their advice.