Wow, lots of new members. Some oldies that helped me through, but glad they are around to help out the people new to TOS.

2 years to the date since my surgery. I have to say that I am extremely happy. First rib removal and partial scalenectomy by Dr. Geoff in Ogden, Utah. It has to be the scariest, most painful thing I have ever done, but it gave me a life, family, and career back so I am grateful. In my opinion it has been successful. A reduction of more than half of the pain I had prior to surgery. I still have daily stretching, very light meds (NSAIDS, neurontin, flexeril), and exercise to keep it in check, but these I consider as an every day "must do" in order to maintain these results.

I play tennis once a week (yep, that's right), hike, and enjoy hobbies of cooking and reading. I go hiking with a few of my significantly younger lady friends and manage to keep up or break the trail. The early morning fall chill watching my children's soccer games doesn't bother me near as much as it did before the surgery. After a year of recovery and therapy, I went back to working full time days. I consider myself very lucky and very blessed to have these results.

Don't get me wrong, I still have the occasional day when I get the old TOS symptoms thrown at me. The pain keeps me humble and makes me appreciate how the surgery has affected me. I read posts from others who have not been quite as lucky and feel guilty for the success that I have enjoyed so far. When I have bad days I avoid the computer, rest, and stretch. When I have good days, I ENJOY them. TOS used to dictate my every move every day. It feels good to have at least a small bit of control over that nowadays.

I do have fibromyalgia, and suffer the occasional migraine; but these are unrelated to the TOS. I had/have bilateral TOS; had the right shoulder operated on and have noticed a significant decrease in the symptoms in the left shoulder. Will probably not have surgery on that shoulder if it keeps steady. Surgery is not for everyone and must definitely be addressed individually.

Just wanted to leave a message in celebration and a message to those that are in pain that I have not forgotten what it is like to live a limited life due to the TOS symptoms. I still do tons of research, follow up on new procedures, and what I can in my small part to educate my family and friends on this disease. God bless to all.