I miss doing bodywork oh so much. My body has been stuck in a thick sticky taut spiral that always feels its needs unwinding and when I do unwind it lasts maybe less than an hour. nerves are jolty and sharp and I quite honestly feel the static under and throughout my fascia. blood flow stagnant due to nerve and vein compression I would simply like to poke a tiny needle in my arm to release all the pressure that is TOS … one of the descriptions I tell others is that my arm constantly feels like it has a blood pressure cuff at the top of my arm, intermittently tightening and subtly loosening, but most always tight. I want to start a YouTube channel, Instagram, blog on my journey w TOS and my research I’ve done, my experience with being diagnosed, shit the journey itself to actually BE diagnosed, the surgeries, the procedures, the everything under the sun therapies / modalities I’ve tried, the corrupt healthcare systems, the over diagnosing and underdiagnosing and so many healthcare providers lack of the commitment to “do not harm” , the shifting of the body and mind and heart and soul, meds, herbs, the loneliness, the people who leave you bc they refuse to acknowledge and understand someone’s life changing w chronic pain, the one step forward ten steps back, the community and others also navigating this condition, the providers who see me and hear me and validate me, etc etc etc. I want to immerse myself in a medium that speaks about my chronic pain and this condition that is still so dismissed and pushed off. I want to make art or of something, the very condition that took my ability to make art and the mediums I used to use to make art. idk. rants. hoping this reaches someone I guess.
I don’t generally post about my personal life here and I definitely do not want to turn this into a medical blog, but I did wish to write at least one post about some of my health problems and how I’ve been dealing with them.
A major reason why it took me so long to write G&G is that I suffer from what I originally thought was Carpal Tunnel Syndrome but turned out to be Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), specifically neurogenic TOS. After two and a half years of physical therapy I decided to have the surgery. Around this time I started looking for anything I could find on the Internet from people who’d had this procedure, and it frightened me that seemingly everyone who’d ever blogged about it had difficult recoveries. I realized that if an operation goes well then there’s not much to be said about it, but resolved that if everything went okay for me then I’d at least tell Tumblr that much.
I had the surgery a little over a month ago, and things have in fact been more or less okay. It’s still painful for me to spend much time on the computer, which is why I haven’t been on Tumblr recently, but for most other everyday activities I’m doing better than I’d expected. It remains to be seen how things will go in the long term, but I have already seen an improvement in some of the nerve-related problems I was having before the surgery.
I’ll go into more detail about my recovery behind the cut for the sake of others who are planning to have this operation.
I’d been told to expect to spend 1-3 night in the hospital, with a 4-6 week recovery after that and definitely no driving or going back to work for at least two weeks. I wound up spending two nights in the hospital and returned to work after four weeks, although I am fortunate enough to have decent medical leave through my employer. Had my livelihood depended upon it I probably could have managed to get back into the office a week or so sooner, although it would have been difficult.
There seems to be a lot of variation in how people’s recovery from TOS surgery goes, but for me the worst part of the first two weeks post-surgery was really the lingering effects of the anesthesia and other drugs. This was especially bad the first week. I was rather dimwitted and clumsy, and also very constipated. I’ll spare you the disgusting details, but getting through that was definitely the low point. All of this would have been the same for pretty much any major operation, though.
The worst TOS-specific problem was that it was difficult to get into a comfortable sleeping position. Actually, for several days I’d say there was no comfortable sleeping position possible. (I’ve heard that some people do better sleeping in a recliner, but I don’t have one so I wasn’t able to test this.) A body pillow helped some, and I was able to get several hours of sleep every night once I was home, but it was about 10 days before I slept through the night.
Because of the aforementioned dopiness, clumsiness, and inability to drive, plus weakness in the shoulder/arm, you will need someone around to help you at home and with errands for the first week or so. Two everyday tasks that will be difficult or even impossible at first are unplugging appliances and opening bottles. As far as basic self care like using the bathroom, taking a shower, brushing my teeth, and getting dressed, I was able to handle all of that on my own by the time I was out of the hospital. I would recommend easy to put on clothes like baggy t-shirts, sweatpants, and zip-up jackets, and for ladies a strapless bandeau style bra. Other items I’d suggest for comfort and convenience while recovering are a neck pillow like people use on airplanes, and a book stand. These are good for both actual books and tablet devices.
My post surgical pain has certainly been noticeable, but not horrific. I was given prescription painkillers but they made me anxious and contributed to my trouble sleeping (these are both rare but not unknown side effects) so I stopped using them after my first day home from the hospital. Fortunately my pain was manageable with Advil and Tylenol. The incision itself didn’t hurt much after the first couple of days...except when I sneezed. You’ll be warned to avoid sneezing, and that’s because for the first couple of weeks then a sneeze will leave you feeling like you’ve been shot in the chest. This did resolve itself and a month post-op I’m mostly just sore/numb around the incision. I’ve had more pain in my shoulder and arm, which feel like I tried to lift something WAY too heavy, but I’d rate this as at most a 6 and often only a 2-3 on the 10-point pain scale. If you have TOS you’ve probably already lived through worse.
I’ve been diligent about doing my stretches and returned to physical therapy two weeks after the operation. Some movements are still painful or difficult for me, but most things are gradually getting easier.
I don’t have much else to say on the subject, except to wish my fellow TOS-sufferers good luck with whatever treatment option you choose.
Cartoonist Rob Cottingham sharing The Business of Podcasting cartoons one a week
Cartoonist Rob Cottingham sharing The Business of Podcasting cartoons one a week
Cartoonist Rob Cottingham, whose artwork graces The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional, is sharing his work with his audience one cartoon at a time. You can see the cartoons on Rob’s website, Noise to Signal, one each week, or you can just break down and buy the book, and get the cartoons all in one hilarious dose!
