Hi Johanna,
I'm wondering how you're doing post op? Hopefully you're not overdoing. Was this 2nd surgery easier than the first or was it harder? I hope you're doing well.

Hi guys, I am doing pretty well. Second surgery was definitely easier than the first. I think for several reasons...
1 i knew what to expect
2. i didn't have one of the 10% most swollen nerves the doc had ever seen on the second side
3. i came home with the right amount of pain meds!!!!

lastly, I had a cortisone shot on my first surgical side where my nerve was swollen. The pain had gotten better but not gone after surgery. I am hoping that since there isn't a rib there to aggravate it anymore it will stay relaxed, but time will tell.

I have been back to PT for two weeks now, and Superjoyce has done some incredible work loosening up the tight spots to get my range of motion back and to reduce post op swelling. . I am also working with the feldenkrais PT to remind my body how to move properly. Joyce is also still working to unstick my ribs again, which are all tangled up in my lats and quadratus muscles.

I am still taking my pain meds, and I am still having some thyroid issues which REALLY complicate and compound the muscle spasms.... I thought i was feeling hypo thyroid last week, but my blood test from monday shows i was hyper...which explains the racing heartbeat and palpitation feeling i was having off and on before i started thyroid meds. Anyhow, when the thyroid is off, i feel like someone puts my back in a vice from the muscle spasms...!

SO, last week, as I posted earlier, Dr J gave me some effexor (an anti depressant) to try. It has REALLY helped thus far. Between that and the PT i am feeling better than i have in a long time. I actually had a few days where i could see living the rest of my life like this and being OK with it. Still not sure how much comptuer i'll be able to tolerate...but Joyce loosened up something in my wrist that was clearly VERY stuck (hurt like h*ll when she unstuck it!!) and that seems to be helping the wrist pain.

i am still hoping to make more improvement. I am doing 15-20 minutes of moderate cardio on either a stairmaster or a treadmill (going slow at a high incline), and still can't really tolerate the strengthening exercises but hoping it will come!!!

SO, i am feeling really good- I can definitely see the benefits of the surgery, and knowing what i do now, especially about the swollen nerve on my left side, i wish i had done it a lot sooner.

Of course, it takes two years for scar tissue to finish forming, so that will be the real test- does it last. Or maybe we call it a race? Can you strenghten and nerve glide enough to keep anything from sticking where it isn't supposed to, but also correct any muscular deficiencies that lead to postural difficulties, and yet not do too much and hurt yourself again!!!!!

so I have my fingers crossed, but definitley the surgery was a very important part of what i needed...things were so stuck, i don't think there is any way I could have gotten it unstuck with PT alone. That is just my opinion, mind you, but my surgeon definitely agreed that surgery was a good course of action, and after reading my op reports, well, i am really happy....

so, in a (very large) nutshell...that's how I am doing... thanks for asking

Wow, sounds like you're doing great! I'm walking for 10-15 minutes a day when the weather is cool enough.

I have had a problem with cysts on my right side. None on the left. They seem to be going down now. Dr Sanders had me on antibiotics the past week in case it was due to infection, and applying heat packs. The cysts were a good inch above incision and some even higher. They turned out to be sweat glands blocked. So maybe now I can wear anti-perspirant again and keep walking.

I need to lose about 25 lbs I gained the last year laying around hurting. Like some of the others here Lyrica seemed to pack the pounds on me fast.

Thanks for all that in a very large nutshell! I'm so glad you have found your surgeries to have helped.

i hear your 25 pounds, but have no lyrica excuse

i haven't weighed this much since i came home from the hospital with number 3 just out.
*ugh*

Lmao!! I didnt even weigh this much while I was pregnant. And btw 1 week after surgery hubby said to me " maybe now you can start losing some of that weight". Needless to say I threatened to cut him with something sharp in his armpits, stitch it up, glue it together and tell him to go exercise and sweat and feel the pain!! That shut him up. Can we say clueless?

maybe your hubby and mine would like to hang out together. mine is ALWAYS on me for losing weight and about my gym membership dues if I don't go at least every other day....

Two items here really worry me.

Look on the Net for Lymphodema. If that doesn't scare you...make sure to have someone rub lotion on your total body skin every day if you can, or somehow do that yourself - to keep the lymphs moving and draining fluid.

Our TOS "swamp", whether right, left or both, keeps these fluids trapped - for how long? That's why the glands get blocked and infected.

That's also why so many of us have deeply tender armpit areas, and sometimes groin areas or around the ears.

Next, with that Lyrica, make sure you're getting your blood sugar and match it to pre-Lyrica days, as remember I got diabetes for good - within 3 months of it. Be careful. My docs didn't even notice my 500 sugar - I DID! (Oafs.)

Bless you ihtos!

Thanks Tam, I have been a little concerned about what this could be. Seems worse again this week .