Decided to have ETS Surgery

Hi All:

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've decided to do the ETS surgery. I've done all my research and all through the negative and the positive, I've still decided to move forward with it. My surgery will be on Dec. 9th and having it done at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA. I hope to keep everyone here updated with my results.

hyperxtechie said:

Hi All:

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've decided to do the ETS surgery. I've done all my research and all through the negative and the positive, I've still decided to move forward with it. My surgery will be on Dec. 9th and having it done at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA. I hope to keep everyone here updated with my results.

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good luck to you man , to be honest? im not sure what that surgery is
But i bet it is still stressfull , i mean its surgery .
I wish the best to you!

@Confuseddd - Thanks for the luck, I appreciate that!

@surfsider - I elected to go to Stanford because it is an "In-Network" provider for my health insurance. I don't know how much it costs yet, but I supposedly have good insurance and it should cover most of it as long as they approve the procedure. The approval process is currently in progress. Yes, it is Dr. Shrager that I spoke to and he's very experienced from my observation. He told me all the side effects including compensatory sweating and all that which I already knew doing research for years now. My primary concern was that a Dr. does not cut T2 and he does not, just T3 & T4. He also told me that over the years, they found that cutting T2 lead to the heavy increase of compensatory sweating. Initially, I was thinking about getting it done by Dr. Reisfeld in L.A. since he's very experienced also, but he is considered "Out of Network" for my insurance which means my out of pocket would've been a lot more. I was lucky to find that they do it at Stanford, plus Stanford is well known for good care and good surgeons. As soon as I find out how much it costs, I'll update you.

About my condition, it has always been the same, pretty severe. I'm just really tired of doing all these treatments to try to cover up the condition with temporary fixes. I have tried everything and although I get some improvement, I made the decision that I'd rather take the risk in order to get my hands to not sweat anymore. I try my best to not let this condition get to me during social functions etc., but the reality of it is - it just does. I know a lot of you can relate to that. So with that said, I'm moving forward with the surgery.

hyperxtechie said:

@Confuseddd - Thanks for the luck, I appreciate that!

@surfsider - I elected to go to Stanford because it is an "In-Network" provider for my health insurance. I don't know how much it costs yet, but I supposedly have good insurance and it should cover most of it as long as they approve the procedure. The approval process is currently in progress. Yes, it is Dr. Shrager that I spoke to and he's very experienced from my observation. He told me all the side effects including compensatory sweating and all that which I already knew doing research for years now. My primary concern was that a Dr. does not cut T2 and he does not, just T3 & T4. He also told me that over the years, they found that cutting T2 lead to the heavy increase of compensatory sweating. Initially, I was thinking about getting it done by Dr. Reisfeld in L.A. since he's very experienced also, but he is considered "Out of Network" for my insurance which means my out of pocket would've been a lot more. I was lucky to find that they do it at Stanford, plus Stanford is well known for good care and good surgeons. As soon as I find out how much it costs, I'll update you.

About my condition, it has always been the same, pretty severe. I'm just really tired of doing all these treatments to try to cover up the condition with temporary fixes. I have tried everything and although I get some improvement, I made the decision that I'd rather take the risk in order to get my hands to not sweat anymore. I try my best to not let this condition get to me during social functions etc., but the reality of it is - it just does. I know a lot of you can relate to that. So with that said, I'm moving forward with the surgery.

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Congrats on your decision. i'm sure everything will turn out fine for you, ETS is not the monster many make it out to be. It can turn palmar hh sufferers' lives around completely. Good choice in making sure the T2 nerve isn't going to be cut, it's not necessary for palmar hh. I'm also getting the surgery done soon, in January. I'm having T3 clamped. Anyhow, keep us updated!

Dude, just don't. There is no going back once you have it. We're talking about the nervous system here, there's a billion things that can go wrong. What's worse is that you might stop sweating for a while, but then compensatory sweating sets in for 90% of the patients. And it's not gonna be a couple drops of misplaced sweat, it'll be just as severe as it is in your original HH location. I have axillary hyperhidrosis, and I had incredible results using Certain Dri. I was completely dry for 2 months, but then my feet started sweating like nobody's business! I mean literally soaking wet! I had to stop using CD in the end. HH is a truly messed up condition, there's no way to get rid of it completely, so don't do anything too extreme like surgery.

For anyone considering ETS surgery, please don't unless you have REALLY tried all the other options. I had ETS in 1997, here in the UK, and yes unfortunately it IS the monster they say it is.I have suffered from severe CS ever since. Try imagining that sweat all over your body! Yes I have good days, but the bad days I want the ground to swallow me up.

The best of luck to you, and I know you'll keep us posted.

I've never looked into ETS--not a help for my brand of HH. But you have, and Stanford's reputation is worldwide. So, once again good luck!

I just wanted to post an update to all of you and say that I have completed the surgery this morning, I came in at 5:15AM and was discharged around noon at Stanford Medical Center. My chest and lungs really hurt right now, hurts when I breathe hard and cough. Pain medication really helps though.

I would like to report that my hands are completely dry right now and so is my feet, they haven't sweated at all yet & other than the pain, I feel very normal. However, I know it is too soon and a lot of people say post back within a year or so and I will try to post back as often as possible as far as my results go to help anyone out. I don't know what the total cost of the procedure is yet, I will find out when I see my medical claim, however my insurance did approve the procedure. If anyone has any questions about the procedure, you can send me a direct message. As far as right now, I am very happy!

I would also like to say that this forum was the first forum I found a few years ago when I first found out about my condition (Hyperhidrosis) and learned a lot through many of you. Thank you to everyone who has posted here, and shared their thoughts and also tips and tricks about dealing with this condition. With that said, if any of you need to contact me, please don't hesitate to message my Inbox. I will keep this thread updated with my progress. Thank you.

-Chris

Just wishing you the best with your recovery. I hope you have good long term results. Keep us up to date on any compensatory sweating.

Thanks Sprawling, recovery is going well, I appreciate that. Still sore when I breathe deeply, however I think another week and I should be good.

I have noticed compensatory sweating on my legs, more on the bottom legs particularly in the shins area which I don't mind at all. I am surprised that my feet have not sweat at all since because it did sweat before the surgery. And I read that for a lot of people who had the surgery, their feet either continued to sweat or it got worser. I am hoping that it stays like this. I will post back if I notice compensatory sweating anywhere else.

Update: Yesterday, I got really worried because I noticed feeling my left had start sweating again. It was very very little, but I started to trip out!

I started searching "ets failures" on Google because I was worried that I may fall in that small category where ETS failed.

However, I found this on Dr. Reisfeld's site -> Hyperhidrosis Recurrence - Excessive Sweating Surgery to stop sweating

It stated the following:

About 10% of the patients who are going to have ETS or ELS will experience short recurrence of sweaty hands or sweaty feet which will occur at about 3 � to 4 days after the operation. It is only temporary and will stop. It is very important to know whether the first 3 � to 4 days were completely dry and if so the patients can be reassured that their recurrence is only temporary.

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Reading that really put me at ease because it's exactly what happened. On the 4th day, I had a recurrence but according to that it was only temporary. Today, it did not happen.

@surfsider - As of now, I don't feel different at all, no emotional changes, no sexual side effects. To keep it real, I had sex last night with my significant other and the only thing that was bothering me was when I was breathing too hard...LOL. I still feel a bit of pain in my chest but it has gotten really better, I think maybe a few days I'll feel no more pain but Dr recommends to take it easy for a whole month. And the CS is nothing! I don't even sweat in my feet anymore!

People say to see what the long term effects will be and I will continue to keep updating my progress here.

I am not by no means affiliated with Stanford hospital, but Dr. Shrager did a very good job with me, I am very happy with my results, you don't even know!! I try not to do too much and stay humble now but I am much more of a happier person and I'm shaking everyone's hands at every opportunity! I am very happy with the decision I made, I have been contemplating this ever since I learned about ETS which was the same time I found about this forum back in 2007. It took me almost 4 years to make the decision. I did not want to take Rubinol all my life because it had some side effects wit me and it would only work when I starved myself. And all the others (Ionto, botox) were temporary solutions.

But Remember, it is DIFFERENT for everyone! What worked for an individual may be dreaded by another. I indeed took this into account before I made my decision. I took into account that I may have severe CS in order to have dry hands & I took into account that something may go wrong and there wouldn't be anyone to blame but myself & to accept whatever happened as the outcome. So with that said surfsider, I wish you the best with your decision. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me.

@surfsider - I do have CS, it has been very minimal however on my legs. The weather in CA has been between mid 40's to 60's so it has not been hot. I'm sure it will increase during summer, we'll have to see.

My condition was pretty severe, they'd start dripping if I didn't wipe them after awhile. And my palms would sweat all the time even harder during social occasions. When I did botox on the hands in the past, the Dr. said I was one of the severe cases that he's had.

I don't have no problem sharing the cost of the surgery here, but I don't know exactly what it is yet until I start seeing the claims. All I know is that I have pretty good insurance and I would just need to pay $2000 (to satisfy deductible) and the rest is covered at 100%. I did have to pre-authorize the procedure though to make sure insurance covered it, this is very important!

I do know the consultation alone with Dr. Shrager was billed at $800. And that was just a consultation only! So make sure you have good insurance or you'll have to be paying a lot out of pocket! When I get the rest of the claims, I'll post that information here.

So how many hands have you shook now?

I'm so happy for you man. It must feel unbelievable to have so much more confidence from dry hands. I couldn't even comprehend until I'd experience it myself.

It's a great experience to have dry hands. Being able to shake another persons hand is truly amazing. What's really cool is feeling other people's moist hands. I achieved dryness by using iontopheresis for the past 5+ years. Even with ionto you get some compensatory sweating. Surgery should be your last possible choice after you have exhausted all other options.

Let's hope hyperxtechie has minimal compensatory sweating once the weather warms up. Heat is a killer for us HH'rs.

I just wanted to post an update with the cost of the ETS procedure at Stanford Hospital.

Make sure you got some really good insurance because I checked my claim online and it came out to be $35,512.98!! WOOOWWW!!! I'm only supposed to cover $2,000 of that amount based on my health insurance though.

I am still doing really great, I have been really dry (hands & feet). It warmed up a few times here and I didn't get any compensatory sweating. But I still don't know how it is being in the 80's and up. Will have to see till then.

@surfsider - Yes, only mild compensatory sweating at times when doing physical activity on the legs, mostly on my shins. It hasn't been really hot here yet so we'll have to see when it starts warming up. At the moment, I do not mind the compensatory sweating at all. And Yes, I can still sweat from my head.

hyperxtechie, i would love to get in contact with you since I plan on having it done at Stanford as well. I sent you a PM please get back to me ASAP!

I've been thinking of having this surgery done to help with my severe facial blushing. Would you mind giving me an update and maybe what to expect? I'm thinking about it seriously now only because this problem has become so debilitating to me.

@tianh - I sent you an email.
@k8steroonis - I responded to your PM.

It's been almost 2 years now since my decision to have ETS and just wanted to check in and answer the questions I received as well. I am still very happy that I decided to have ETS. It has been a life changer for me and things are going really well in my life (confidence-wise) ever since. I've taken greater opportunities in my career and I'm just much more outgoing overall. In the past, I was always hesitant to go places for my fear of shaking hands. I have not visited this forum ever since, but I do remember how it was and can relate to a lot of people in here.

So other than the good things, I'll mention the annoyed things that are a result of ETS. I think in this thread I mentioned that my feet stopped sweating. It actually came back so my feet does still sweat. I don't really remember if it's the same or worse because I never really concentrated on my feet, just the palms.

The compensatory sweating I have is really annoying. I get it on hot days and I sweat on my back and stomach. It's not really noticeable however, until I go out clubbing and end up dancing really hard or something. Sometimes it'll start showing through my shirt as a result.

Another thing that was true that I heard before is the spicy food thing. I start really sweating (way much than before) when I eat spicy food. I start sweating from my head and sometimes it'll look like I just got done taking a shower Lol! This has not really bothered me though because a lot of other people sweat when eating spicy food, I just tell people I sweat more!

One thing that really got to me though is that it affected my athletic ability. However, I do remember Dr. Shrager mentioning this, that somehow it would affect my over-all heart-rate during exercise. So if you are an athlete, you should NOT have the ETS procedure. I used to be very athletic before, can run 3+ miles fine, etc. Now, I get very fatigued and start running out of breath when I run, play basketball, etc. It doesn't prevent me from doing them, it just seems that I was not able to perform strenuous activity at the capacity I did before I had ETS. However, I do still exercise and I recently completed the ToughMudder event that just passed in North Lake Tahoe.

So with that said, these are the things that I live with now as a result of ETS. But as I said, I am still happy overall that I got the procedure done and would not change my mind if I had the chance because the annoyances I can live with over having sweaty hands.

If anyone has any more questions, feel free to msg me. I'll keep posting from time to time.