I am now faced with the decision to have surgery. Does anyone know if there are any future considerations that should be taken into account with first rib removal surgery. For instance - is there a higher instance of injury with falls, etc? My boyfriend posed the question to me and I didn't know the answer but figured someone here could point me in the right direction.

Thanx!

good question.

I don't know the answer myself but I was curious about it so googled for images-
http://images.google.com/images?svnu...b+&btnG=Search

If you follow some of those links you should find some more details.

I don't think there is, at least not with me. Everyone is different. I've been skiing many times and have wiped out more times then I want to admit! I carry a heavy backpack too and no issues.

I wish you well in your surgery.

Thank you bettertoser - that's the kind of feedback I am looking for.

I am still sitting on the surgery decision until I do a bit more research (like I haven't done enough)...

I find my balance, in the 6 weels since my surgery, very poor. I have fallen four times in the six weeks. Once I landed on my knees and my left hand. The other times I have either managed to twist and land on my bum, or fallen on my back.
I also find things like sleeping on my shoulders causes lots of pain. Wearing a bra is impossible. Shirts that have seams to low or to high in the underarm are painful. Getting up out of a sitting or lying position when you usually use your arms to lever yourself up is painful.
There are a ton of things that I never once thought of that cause me pain while I am recuperating.
That is not to say that, as BetterTOSer says, things will not improve as my health improves. I believe they will. Right now however I must be extra careful.
Tracy

jamy, when you think about a rib being gone you think of something the size of what is on your dinner plate. (Oh, the old jokes of BBQ ribs after surgery, lol) But the rib depending on your body build is really small. I will look for my daughters post operative reports, but from what I recall, it was a thin slip of a piece that is not missed. I will try to find it and post the size, they send it for biopsy...discribe the size, if malformed, it is in two pieces and they measure both, not any muscle attached etc.

My daughters question was will I be deformed, like one side of the chest caved in. You couldn't tell the difference. Her scar lay along the necklace line and even with a redo is not bad. That is if the surgery is from the collar bone and not just under the arm.

Post op Daughter was in two rear-ended car accidents, fell down the stairs,and her step-sister once gave her a whack in the upper chest with her foot, but nothing hurt it.

I think that the collar bone being in front, gives shape, support, the structure and conceals the tiny rib in its self. behind the collar bone, in front of the first rib is where the brachial plexus bundle follows from the cervical spine to the branches into the arm; becoming the Ulnar, Medial and Radial nerves all the way to the finger tips, three feet long. ( that is why when a compression of TOS gives symptoms along the elbow, arm to fingers, anywhere there is a hinge it further irratate a inflamed nerve)(This is what is meant by double crush symptoms, at two spots, or triple crush, in three spots.)

Brachial plexus bundle; are the cervical nerves C5/6/7/8 and Thoracic T/1.
If you press behind the collar bone about midway to the shoulder from center; give a good press behind the bone.....Do you feel the spot, when hit, it is an OUCHY!

If your boyfriend played football, he may have been whacked and had his arm pulled backwards causing a "stinger"....ask him if he every had this with the whammy sting along the nerve path down the arm.
That helps him understand where your entrapment is and what the pain is you have in a way he can relate.

More then you asked, but some added info that when shared with me gave a good picture.
Dianne

Thank you DiMarie for the great info! I wondered about looking deformed, I have had the chance to meet a post-surgery TOSer so that has helped as well.

All my research and reading so far hasn't pointed to any concerns about future injuries in relation to firt rib removal. I am going to talk to my family doc (who will have the surgeons appt report and signed the treatment plan for my up coming massages) and get her opinion as well as the opinion of another doctor our family knows. Hopefully they will be able to shed some light on the situation.

Funny you mention 'double crush' - I did see a plastics guy who felt I had more then one area of entrapment (elbow has been ruled out many times) and everyone swears there is something in my neck (I had a relatively normal MRI less then a year ago - however it was about a month BEFORE I was rear-ended so...). Time will tell I guess. In the end I want my life back...I hate 'living to work' (which is all I can do these days)

Does your daughter regret surgery? What was her recovery time? Did she do physio after?

Thanx again. You can feel free to PM me as well

HI,

I am new to the site and a year into TOS. I am having surgery on Thursday but not 1st rib removal. Having nerve release surgery by a LA Doc named Sr Filler.

He has a website...nervemed.com. DOn't know if this is of help but thought I would pass along.

Good luck.