I don't know about Angela's procedure (I hope she can explain it better), but rib removal should never be done. First, the lower ribs are not useless. They protect the
lower part of your lungs. If they are gone, one little hit in the one wrong spot and you are good for a trip to the hospital. Also, those ribs retain their "roots",
and will regrow over time. If they do not pose a problem doing so (I am no doctor, but I can easily see a stick of bone growing from the spine pressuring organs),
they will at least fully come back, and everything will have to be done again.
All in all, it's not a good idea to remove ribs.