#ntos

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.