Hi All,

I'm glad to find this community. I'm hoping you can help me to find a doctor in Oregon. I seen several doctors but no one can seem to agree on a diagnoses (CT, median nerve entrapment, cervical degeneration). I'm getting so discouraged. I'd like to be evaluated by a TOS specialist. None of the doctor lists include Dr.s in Oregon.

Also, I'm using Dragon Naturally Speaking version 8. I welcome input and advice from those of you who are experienced Dragon users.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Hi Oregon Girl,

I guess things are a bit slow here because of the holidays. I hope you don't feel neglected as that will not be the case.

If I were you, I would place some calls to several of the TOS Specialists listed and ask if THEY could recommend someone in your area. There are not a lot of TOS specialists, so it should be a 'small world' for them.

Try not to be discouraged, this is almost always a long road from symptoms to diagnosis.

Hope you can enjoy a peaceful holiday week and healthy new year.

Warmly,
Anne

If you aren't too far from Newberg, OR this is the place I got some very good help from.
http://www.chehalempt.com/

Possibly a Dr Mark Buhler in Portland - he was mentioned to me in 99 as a top ortho- he did agree back then that I had some sort of chronic RSI and should change jobs.
But wc dismissed his assessment and sent me to another dr
I did manage to recover after 9 months of light duty work.
but it all came back and more - so I think Buhler was correct - in hindsight of course.
But he never said anything about TOS and I may not have had it back then anyway.

he did repair my sons shattered wrist and was mentioned as the "guy" for that too.

Dr. Mark J. Buehler, MD, Hand Surgery Physician, Portland, OR
Dr. Mark J. Buehler, MD, Hand Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery Physician at 5050 Northeast Hoyt, Portland, OR, (Oregon), Free ratings and reports.
http://www.healthgrades.com/director...d-84c2ced2.cfm - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
Dr Mark Buehler Hand Surgeon Portland, OR
Free Doctor report on Dr Mark Buehler, Hand Surgeon of 5050 Ne Hoyt St Ste 660 Mark J Buehler Md, Portland Oregon (OR)
http://www.ucomparehealthcare.com/dr...hler_Mark.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

You're probably correct that people are too busy preparing for the holidays to be on the forum. Still I'm glad you wrote, because it seemed like only the moderators were reading messages. Thanks for your suggestions!

Thank you! I appreciate the suggestions. I've had some good PT (helps but problems return). At this point, my focus is on getting an accurate diagnosis. Thanks at the suggestion on the Ortho. I'll check on him after the holidays. I'm a little confused about what type of Dr. I should be looking for. I don't have swelling or discoloration. I have more trouble with pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in only certain positions. Can both orthos and neurologists do a good evaluation of the cause? Happy holidays.

Hi Again,

In my experience, the specialists I found most helpful were:

1. Thoracic Surgeon*****
2. Neurosurgeon
3. Ortho

Support Specialists (necessary)

1. Rheumatologist for accurate DX
2. Anesthesiologist for nerve blocks..part of DX.
3. Physiatrist (Pain Specialist) for ongoing treatment and DX.

It is best to use one physician for all RX and treatment after all other specialists have weighed in and done their 'thing'.

I went through about five Orthos...hand specialists, etc... before I was finally seen, (purely by chance), by a Scoliosis specialist (Ortho). HE Finally suggested TOS and referred me to a Thoracic Surgeon.

The Thoracic Surgeon worked with a 'team' of other specialists in the area, who as a whole, could provide the proper diagnosis and treatment.

If I had not been seen the specialist for my back (!), I don't know how long it would have taken. It was 10 months before I heard the term TOS. I believe that, because he was not focused on my hand (carpal tunnel, etc.), he was able to look outside the box and send me to the (wonderful)
Thoracic/Cardivascular Surgeon.

The Thoracic Surgeon had the facilities for the circulatory testing. The Rheumatologist ruled out other soft-tissue problems...such as MS. The Physiatrist was a specialist with EMG, SSEP type testing for neurological diagnosis. Also treated Depression, (a given), Fibromyalgia, and/or whatever else may apply to you, if anything.

Unless you have something like cervical ribs, expect to be sent to Physical Therapy, (which is apparently standard operating proceedure), when first daignosed. If PT is not helpful, you will likely be labeled as a 'Surgical Candidate'. WARNING: that ONLY means that PT was not the 'cure'. It does NOT mean that surgery is necessarily a good idea for you.

This is why it is imperative that you have honest surgeons who don't just operate on every patient who walk through the door.

Anyway, I am confident that you will find the 'right' specialist for you. I do believe that you will be able to locate them, either through referrals from the Specialists on our 'list', or through the Ortho suggested above.

Be sure to request X-rays of your cervical/thoracic area to rule out cervical ribs or other obvious cervical issues. Cervical testing with MRI, etc. is crucial as you may not have TOS at all.

Surgery to remove cervical ribs seems to result in the most successful resolution of TOS. Otherwise, the journey will be more involved, but manageable, truly.

Anne