I was surprised to hear that he was gone too.

He did my surgery around 2000 and the man is the best. I still need my left side done eventually. I will most likely see who he refers to.

Ada

He gave me two referrals... one to a guy in San Fransisco and one in Colorado. I know nothing about these two doctors so until more research is done, I dunno. I guess I'll hold off.

Surgery is a last option for me, but I am one of those cases that would benefit greatly from it. I tried physical therapy for 5 years before I did my first surgery and the doctor was too inexperienced (and cocky) and screwed it up. It needs to be fixed and have an additional work done.

When I expressed my concern to Kathy at Dr. Sanders office about the referrals experience she did not deny that they were significantly less experienced... which leads me to want to investigate more before making a decision... as well as talking to Kathy a bit more. I've been to busy to be dealing with it as bad as that sounds.

For those who are interested the referrals are:

Stephen Annest
Denver, CO
303-539-0736

and

James Avery
California Pacific Medical Centers
San Francisco, CA
415-923-3150

Jenny, I know Dr Annest - he did my surgeries. He's top-notch. Does several of these procedures per week.

PM me if you want to know more!
Anne

I had surgery with Dr. Avery late in 2007 for scalenectomy only. It was a tough, slow recovery for me(one year plus!)with several disheartening setbacks but I'm back at work full time now! I'm not 100% but I'm still improving...

Dr. Avery is wonderful, well-respected and has lots of resources. He always went the extra mile to make sure paperwork was in order for my benefits, etc. He learned directly from Dr. Sanders several years ago. While in the hospital all the staff was extra nice and made sure I knew what an excellent surgeon he is. I was doubtful that I would be able to continue in my desk job, but I'm doing OK and making a living!


Marabunta.

Hi Marabunta,

I'm new to the forum and just noticed your post as I searched for opinions on Dr. Avery. It's so hard to find out how patients do many years after surgery, so I'm anxious to know: how are you doing these days? Are you still at work and feeling better or have you taken a turn? Thanks so much.

Beeper,

I had surgery with Avery in January 2005. I found him to be straight forward and available to me for the first year after surgery. Unfortunately, when we realized that the surgery had actually made me worse, I did feel like Dr. Avery washed his hands of me. His only response was, "Well, now I'm more careful about how I choose my patients." Great...

I had left rib resection and scalenectomy. Unfortunately, I never returned to work as an attorney (or anything else). I am much worse after the surgery. I developed scar tissue on my brachial plexus that was visible by MRI (Dr.Werden) eight months after surgery. In addition to much worse pain, I also developed migraines and much worse chronic headache.

I know many doctor say TOS is not progressive but that has not been my experience. Maybe I would have gotten worse even if I hadn't had surgery. Who knows?

Good luck with your decision.

Take care,
Kelly