Monday well i surprise my self once again i did not think that i would feel up to posting this much but can't do much else. To be honest it doesn't hurt to type i mainly use my left hand so it takes longer that's all. Any way i never got to sleep till 2:30 am and it did not last long i shut the TV off and instead of putting the clicker on the night stand i left it on the bed so the next thing i know bang and i shot up to a setting position next thing not very nice stuff came out of my mouth. The pain was out of this world because i had used my right side to sit up so needless to say i was up for two more hours trying to get the pain settled down. I wont be doing that again ha ha. The pain to day is a little different i don't know if it was me shooting up in bed or this is just part of it. The pain to day there is a small area that burns when i move a certain way it is two fingers up from the incision and the area is about as big as the tip of my finger to the first joint. I also find that my right hand has been colder then the left and is white in color my thumb and under the thumb is still aching. Light aching in forearm as well as elbow the upper part of the outside arm still has that funny feeling and it is now in the shoulder blade as well as slight burning. My lung is a little worse to day then yesterday still doing my breathing and arm exercises. Oh ya my man ended up doing the house work his friend wasn't feeling well so i give him an A for trying. But he made up for every thing he is making me a nice Birthday supper and he gave me a dozen roses and best of all i am now the proud owner of a puppy he looks just like the taco bell dog i am going to call him Chico but i wont get him till next week. So i hope by then i wont be in to much pain i can't wait he is so sweet and love-able. OK i know stop aim starting to sound like i just had a baby ha ha. OK that's it for to day unless something different happens with my arms.

Hi mucker,

So GOOD to hear surgery went well for you - and isn't it a relief to have it behind you?! Patience is the word for now; it may take 3-6 weeks after surgery to get over the effects of the surgery on your body and feel returned to full function. Recovery of the nerves can take 12 months, although I did see some muscle return more than 18 months after my pec minor release, so that window can be longer. Meaning, those who have hand atrophy, don't despair if you don't see muscle growth within the first year - if it takes a year or a little more for the nerves to regenerate, muscle can't reappear until AFTER that regeneration is complete.

Try to take things easy with your left arm as much as possible mucker. TSers often use their good arm so much they then are dx'd with "overuse" syndrome in the previous asympyomatic side. I think if you have TOS on one side you are at risk for developing it bilaterally, and the "overuse" term is a garbage-basket dx, personally. My "overuse" syndrome felt just like mild TOS, and has progressed to severe TOS, and early EMG said I had carpal tunnel - yeah, right, with a dx of TOS on the right?

Re: the chest tube - When resecting a first rib, surgeons are VERY close to the lung with a VERY sharp instrument. If the pleura (sac enclosing the lung) is nicked, some surgeons deflate the lung to prevent further injury and/or to give themselves more room to work. Then when the resection is done, they close the pleura, but leave a drain in place to remove any fluids that may have made it into the lung. An x-ray is done often, sometimes still in the OR, in post-op, and a couple more times post-op to ensure the lung re-inflates and stays inflated, and there is no fluid build-up. The drain comes out a few days post-op if all is fine. Sounds like your surgeon is one of those who takes a different approach, hoping to avoid messing with the lung, but did nick the pleura (which is very hard NOT to do), and the lung collapsed. He opted to forgo the drain and watch and see how the lung reinflated, and whether or not a drain was needed, rather than doing anything he considered invasive. X-rays and breathing apparatus are the same regardless. The downside is if fluid DOES build up it means going back in to the OR and being opened up again - no fun. But both approaches are legitimate.

The strange feelings on the back of your arm are normal post-op and may last awhile - the nerves to that area were pulled and pushed aside, albeit gently, quite a bit, while they got that bit of rib out through the incision, mucker, and it will take quite a while for them to stop being , well, PO'd about it! In fact, numb is good - in a few weeks they will have more feeling than they've been accustomed to all the time the compression has been occurring - once they wake up to the fact that they are now free, the PARTYING begins - and that gets very uncomfortable! The bright side of that is that it DOES calm down, and it means that YES, the nerves are alive!!!

mucker, I found ice very welcome after surgery - although since I have RSD I most likely should have kept far away from it - but NOT at the incision site. I placed it in a zip-loc bag, wrapped in a towel for skin safety, and placed it over the collarbone/brachial plexus area - the site where the surgery actually took place. That was where my greatest pain was, and the ice helped greatly there. I couldn't stand much of anything directly on the incision at first, but a warm rice pack felt good a couple of weeks out.

Vitaman E capsules - break them open and rub the oil into the incision - really helps it fade - but not till Dr says it's ok!! I also have a tube of ointment called NuSkin that works like magic to fade scars and scratches.

Please make sure that puppy gets trained very well to leash and knows that both dear man and YOU are alpha dogs, NOT pup. My spouse could walk our last dog, but every time I did she pulled on the leash the entire time - 35 lbs of lab retriever/border collie mix! Oh, my aching arms!! Can you say obedience school drop-out? Not one SHRED of interest in conforming to the rules, that one - possibly why we butted heads?

Anyway, please take care, treat yourself gently and remember these icky, achy days will pass.

All my best,
beth

Hi Beth thanks for telling me about the chest tube and the other info. I very much agree about the vitamin E i used the oil on my carpel tunnel scares and it did make a big difference i also had a ovary removed last Feb and again used the oil on my lower tummy i only had three little scares but you can hardly see them. And ice i can not handle any ice or cold on my arms or hands the pain is unreal this has been going ever since this whole mess started Sep 2004. I had the carpel tunnel release done on right Jan 06 and march 06 on the left. I still have carpel tunnel on my right and it is worse then before the release any ways thank you once again for the info at lest now i know more about what to expect for time line on the recovery and what to expect for the healing.

Mucker I know this is after the fact but when I had my second child I had a catheter in the hospital. When I left I could not pee for hours. They were going to re-admit me. The doctor told me to try while in the shower. Sounds gross but she said your own urine is sterile. After about 8 hours without going, I just told everyone, see you, I'm going to take a shower. It worked! Better then a catheter in the hospital! Just had to wash the shower after! No big deal!

Sending you for a great recovery. And thanks for posting your experiences!

Just want to say thanks for taking the time to detail your surgery. It's really valuable info for those of us who have not yet had surgery but may have to in the future.

I wish you a speedy and complete recovery!

Great News Mucker!!! So glad the wait is over for you!!

I hope things continue to heal well for you!

I understand your frustration of doing something that sets you back a little...you sort of forget if you are feeling sleepy or better with your meds....then do something and OOPS all hell happens in your body!!!

so slowly and take care!! Thanks for the updates!!

love n hugs

Victoria

Hay well not to much to day just a little blue and the pain is not bad right now. I guess the feeling of blue is because i am feeling a little jealous it sounds like jokat and ihtos are doing a little better well they seem to have some success from there surgeries and i have not i know it does not mean that in time i wont have these problems any more but i wont some sign that this was not for nothing. I am sorry i truly am happy that they are better but i can't help being jealous. I still have the aching and the tremors and my hand is still changing color i don't have the burning that i did before but my neck is starting to get really stiff again not sure if it is just because of the way i sleep now. Oh enough of my **** so on a lighter note i would like to say Linjane i am glade that you brought up going in the shower i do that my self back in Feb i had had surgery and my doctor then told me the same thing as well when i started to have trouble because of being on hydromorphen my family doc said to give it a try it doesn't always work for me so i just sit run the water and wait. But i am sure that little tip might help others who are having the problem or ever start to have the problem. Shelly and Stardust thank you i really hope that my ramblings do or well help others. That's what it is all about is to be here for each other and if there comes a time when any of yous think i have run my course on my story please tell me i don't wont to wast your time or mine once again thank yous i hope you all have a great day

Mucker, please don't be so hard on yourself. The surgery I had was minor compared to your's. I was ready however for what Dr Sanders was advising me to do. I just wanted a chance at some relief. I think the reason alot of us fear these surgeries is because we KNOW the recovery is going to be difficult. Just have faith, and take it slow. Thats the main thing everyone who has had surgery warns us about. Sending you a big Ihtos