Hi, my name is Shellie, and I was diagnosed with TOS in December of 2006. I had a car accident in 2001 and had a whiplash injury, and I've never been the same since. I did PT in 2001 and 2002 for my neck injury. In 2004 I started having numbness in my thumb, and happened to mention it to my neurologist. I did more PT for a "pinched nerve" in my neck. The numbness eventually spread to all of my fingers and up my forearm. She diagnosed me with CTS, and sent me back to PT in 2005. When my CTS had not resolved, and she was ready to send me to surgery, I did my own research and ran across an article about TOS being misdiagnosed as CTS. I mentioned it to my neurologist, who then did the 90-90 test, and immediately diagnosed me with TOS and referred me to a surgeon. The surgeon was not impressed, and sent me to PT AGAIN. This PT only made things worse (they believed in no pain, no gain). Back to the neurologist, she recommended a different PT office and for me to find a surgeon who specializes in TOS. I found Dr. Bottsford of Foothills Cardiothoracic Center in Spartanburg, SC--he's the best, so I've heard. He reviewed my medical records, did a 90/90 test and some other tests, and confirmed the TOS dx. He recommended surgery, but told me to try PT a little longer. After 2.5 months of unsuccessful PT, he has scheduled me for TOS surgery on August 21st of this year. I am happy, because I've felt like surgery was the answer for several years now, but I am terrified at the same time. I will be having some muscle cut and a partial rib resection on my right side. He's is going in under my arm. I've been told I'll be in the hospital a few days, to bring a pillow to prop my arm, that my head will be heavy, and that it will hurt. He advised me to "take as much time as I can from work" after surgery. But I don't want to use up all of my sick leave and vacation leave because I will need to go to PT post-surgery. I would love to hear from others specifics about their post-surgery experience, such as how bad the pain was, how long until you could drive, dress and bath yourself (I have long hair, it's going to be very difficult to wash with one hand! My husband will have to help me), type on the computer (I do a lot of that at work), etc. How long were you out of work and do you think I can go to the beach a month after my surgery? I've already paid! Thanks in advance to all who respond.