3GS stuck in recovery mode during ios5 upgrade

Downloaded ios5 but was not able to sync phone.  iTunes keeps telling me to restore iPhone before it can be used with iTunes. During recovery iTunes stops recognizing my phone, the message "iT has detected an iP in recovery mode..." pops up and the process starts over, where it begins downloading ios5 again. It ran like this all night.

Problem solved, so I'm posting an update on how I solved it:
1. Forced phone into DFU mode.
DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode is not the same as restore mode. DFU mode bypasses the current OS installed and allows you to upgrade or downgrade your OS.
I found the info I needed on this link: http://askville.amazon.com/iphone-dfu-mode-explain-breif/AnswerViewer.do?request Id=12881693 so here are the copy/paste directions for how to get to DFU:
Step One
Open iTunes and connect the iPhone to your computer.
Step Two
Press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button at the same time.
Step Three
After exactly 10 seconds release the Sleep/Wake button. Continue holding the home button until you iTunes pops up a message telling you that it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode.
The iPhone screen will be black, but the device will be recognized on iTunes.
2. Clicked "restore" in iTunes.
iTunes downloaded iOS5 (again), which took hours, then restored everything since my last backup (the day before)
The phone is still connected to computer with USB, so resist the urge to touch anything on the phone while it reloads everything...slowly.
Best wishes for a painless recovery.

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