My Experience With ETS Has Been Awesome after 4 Years

Introduce yourself and share your personal hyperhidrosis related experiences.
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SurfRBtm
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 11:48 pm

My Experience With ETS Has Been Awesome after 4 Years

Post by SurfRBtm »

I'm a 50 year old male from the Silicon Valley, California and I've never been more happier and confident after I had my ETS surgery back in 2013 at Stanford Hospital. My condition was more severe than most people with palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis. My palms literally dripped when I faced them to the ground and my feet and armpits sweat just as much. I was a prisoner for decades and now I have been set free to do anything I want, shake hands and be close to people without the worries of repulsing them with my extremely sweat-drenched palms and soaking smelly feet. I've been able to finally study and play piano once again after quitting at 12 years old because the sweaty palms just made the experience a living hell for me AND the piano instructor (oh I remember the look of disgust each time she comes in contact with the piano keys after me). I can go on and on about the many things I could have done or things in my life I could have done better without this horrible and disgusting condition.

After doing extensive research about ETS and having read numerous reviews, complaints, and recommendations from people from all sorts of forums, support groups, YouTube, etc, I consulted with several thoracic surgeons throughout California (including Dr. Reisfeld, with whom I was unimpressed) and finally decided to have the procedure done at Stanford Hospital. They have world class, experienced and extremely knowledgeable thoracic surgeons who are able to pinpoint exactly which thoracic nerve controlled which part of the body. The first question they asked was "which 2 problems bother you the most?". Obviously, palmar and plantar were the real problem. So, I chose to have the palmar and plantar nerves severed and my surgeon was able to do both pairs in one single operation. Everyone else required a separate operation for the other pair (feet or palm). Mind you the plantar fix is done through the lumbar region by the other surgeons,including Reisfeld, and even they couldn't guarantee the effectiveness of ELS procedure! WTF?!...Stanford surgeons were able to do both the palmar and plantar fixes by ETS from the same incisions the size of a pea on both sides!! INGENIOUS! My armpits don't even sweat anymore, (which really never bothered me although they also used to sweat profusely, but since the nerve controlling palm sweat also controlled the underarms, it was an added bonus!).

After the procedure, I did experience compensatory sweating around my abdominal area and legs which usually occurred when I'm asleep. But it went away after 3-4 months. Now, I sweat normally when I exercise and experience flushing when eating spicy foods but that doesn't bother me one bit. Those things happen to normal people and I'm just EXTREMELY HAPPY that my sweaty hands and feet are no longer a problem, burden and embarrassment in my life! It definitely opens up new opportunities for me. THE FEELING OF LIVING WITH CONFIDENCE IS COMPLETELY AMAZING AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!
Last edited by SurfRBtm on Sun Jul 09, 2017 4:52 pm, edited 11 times in total.

admin
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Re: My Experience Is Awesome!!

Post by admin »

I am very pleased to hear your story!

It is extremely interesting that they were able to do perform both thoracic and lumbar at the same time via the same incisions. Would you mind giving us the name of your doctor and hospital?

Do you know which portions of the sympathetic and lumbar chain you had cut or clamped or cauterized?

SurfRBtm
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 11:48 pm

Re: My Experience With ETS Has Been Awesome after 4 Years

Post by SurfRBtm »

The cardiothoracic surgeon that performed ETS on me was Dr. Chuong D Hoang at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California. The procedure is called the BILATERAL VIDEO ASSISTED THORACOSCOPY; DORSAL SYMPATHECTOMY;BILATERAL. It was an outpatient procedure and I was able to go home couple hours after surgery. I don't recall which two of the"T" nerves (T1, T2, T3, T4...) he severed but I do remember 2 surgeons and a nurse practitioner, during the initial doctor visit, were all in agreement as to which of the thoracic or "T" nerves to cut when they asked me which sweaty problem bothered me most which I clearly indicated when I showed them my wet palms and sweaty smelly feet. They did not second guess which thoracic or "T" nerves to cut. Performing ELS was NEVER discussed and no lumbar or "L" nerve was ever mentioned. No "L" nerve was cut or touched during the procedure!! Stanford surgeons have discovered which "T" nerve to cut for curing sweaty feet which should make ELS obsolete in my opinion. It's shocking to know that everyone else operates through the lumbar by an "L" nerve to cure sweaty feet! It just goes to show that they simply don't have the same knowledge nor share the same techniques that Stanford surgeons use under their sleeves.

Dr Hoang has since left the Stanford group, but they have very qualified, experienced and highly intelligent and thorough surgeons (best in the country) that work closely together as a team. Clearly, the more brains involved working for you the more successful you will be in achieving that goal of never having sweaty palms, armpits and feet ever again, in my opinion. It is also important to note that contrary to most surgeons around the world, the surgeons at Stanford DO NOT recommend any clamping of any nerves of any kind whatsoever which to me wasn't an issue because I truly wanted the nerves snipped completely anyway. They gave me a very scientific reason as to why NO ONE should opt for the clamps and I'm afraid I'm too dumb to explain to anyone in layman's terms why. But hands down, Stanford is by far the best in advanced medical procedures and treatment. They consistently earn the highest reputation of being one of the best in the world in medicine because they are pioneers in medical breakthroughs, innovation, and cures. No one else has been able to fix the sweaty feet problem without going thru the lumbar region. And I'm just one of their patients and living proof that their technique is truly successful. Interestingly, they don't perform ETS as much as say Dr. Reisfeld will do in a year because Stanford Hospitals and Clinics do not advertise about any specific treatment much less ETS for hyperhidrosis. Having said that, NO ONE really knows anything about what they can really do. But hyperhidrosis is just one of countless thoracic related conditions they are able cure and I'm here to let everyone know about my experience being treated by them. So, don't be fooled by the many 100s or 1000s of ETS procedures performed by a single surgeon to help convince inn believing they are the best. In my opinion, quality not quantity should take precedence in making your decision to undertake the ETS procedure. After all, there are many stupid and incompetent surgeons in the world making the same stupid mistakes over and over again year after year without ever improving their work, lacking knowledge of new medical advancements, breakthroughs and successful techniques that have been used by smarter ones for years. Yeah, keep figuring! Stanford is highly advanced in all areas of medicine PERIOD! My recommendation to anyone seeking ETS is CHOOSE YOUR SURGEON CAREFULLY! There are truly smarter and competent surgeons out there and I was just lucky enough to find one in my own neighborhood and hopefully I can help make someone make the right decision without having to go through the same daunting experience I've gone through in the search of the right surgeon. Btw, these guys specialize in minimally invasive procedures. The scar is the size of a baby pea and there are 2 underneath each armpit. The procedure they use is called VATS (Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery) Sympathectomy see link below. I HIGHLY recommend them. Good luck!

Stanford Hospitals and Clinics
Thoracic Surgery Clinic
875 Blake Wilbur Drive
Palo Alto, CA
Tel: 650-498-6000
Website: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical- ... eated.html
VATS info: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical- ... ctomy.html

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