Thursday, September 29, 2011

is No Pain for me as yet

There is No Pain, tingly though
That is the first thing, but the gels looked worried! 
Follow up a few months later below.

What the? 
A month ago or so, driving the van around town on the job, I felt tingling feelings from about above my left butt cheek and down my leg. I thought nothing much, but it kept recurring at odd times. Left side? And a numb feeling in the pad of the fourth finger, left hand... Sciatica? A large [but worthless?] wallet had been moved from rear to front pocket, and solved that problem years ago, but this?

The next chiropractic session, I mentioned it, "When I bow my head, it sends the sensation like pins and needles down the leg. Well?" Massage, move this and that. No change. Feeling still there. Hmm, weird.

One night at home, I grab the three legged massager the kids got me for Father's Day the other year. Father's Day? A present anyway, and leaned back against Bev's old armchair pressing the massager against my neck. Felt okay, funny sensation was not there, so... Nah, still there next day sometimes.

Finding out 
I called a surgery and made out I wanted to see a doctor because of the tingles down the left side. The previous year I had got a nurse to check for diabetes as my mum has that now, but " No, You Don't Have It". Oh good. A little prick and loss of a drop of blood never hurt anyone, but, that INSTANT little PAIN of the prick, AND GONE like that plus the NO answer was all gratifying in a way.

A few years before, prior to a knee operation, I had a heart examination. Sticking-plaster with wires all over my nearly hairless chest revealed- HEALTHY. And I smoked a bit back then too, and prior to that had been drinking more than the "recommended amount", purely because of the Alcoholery's cheap prices, and a presumed "needed stress relief". Before the knee job a few more years ago, a couple of invasive inspections of the top and the bottom parts of my innards revealed a little too much relief was being had, and a blood test agreed, so The Alcoholery's favourite customer has been a poor one ever since...

Anyway. The doctor was intrigued, and ordered x-rays, so was happy to comply, as work was a hour away. She was sure I was not getting MS. Thirty thousand x-rays later and late for work.... No. A neck x-ray means a few shots from different angles. Quite a few. Maybe 20? Anyhow, had to wait a few days, and the surgery called back about coming in for another consult. "Minor central canal stenosis at C5/6". Ahh. What? "Maybe some minor surgery." WTF?

Well, a boney[?] protrusion onto the spinal cord? Just great. But it might explain by a roundabout way why I see reds and oranges duller through a sort of greyish filter with my right eye compared to my left eye, and also the staccato digital like static sounds over the tinnitus in the left ear when it's weally weally quiet... Doubt it. Think about that, I KNOW colours are DIFFERENT and DULLER.

So now trying to organise a neurologist appointment in the Big Smoke.

In the mean time, explained again to the Chiropractor, and the gels were listening i, again, and looked worried as we looked at th ex-rays via th internet (WOW.

A Specialist
Alright then.

Oh, WHAT! Call, and find out The Specialist has been in Queensland and the receptionists at that office did not even bother to get back in touch with the senders about THAT! IF they got the fax that is.  WTF? Hang on, no, they did not even receive it? Bull dust. I watched it sent off.

next
MRI mid august and two Oesteopathic sessions and a few chiro sessions as well.

The manipulators may have modified the pain that comes and goes.

The MRI was exciting as.... a noisy nap...

Then a special trip needing a day off work to go The Big Smoke as reported elsewhere- a 20 minute eye-brain function test. A two hour trrip down for an expected all day test. Bloody hell.
However- as planned if that was so, I had a cunning plan B, leave early enough, and I could have some sailing in at Sandy Point! And did get one good reach in. And the wind died again. ARGH. Go home. Six hours on the road, one test for twenty minutes and a sail for 5 minutes...

September follow up
This time, I got the last appointment slot, about 6PM!
Dr Dominic sat me down, and said more or less:
"I have some bad news and some good news."
Ah, so?
After a few minutes going through the MRI scans on the CD the scanners gave me to give to him... The were was some little patches in the grey matter of the noodle!
This was an example of a "mild case of multiple sclerosis" apparently.
"Ah, so that was the bad news? That's all?"
"Yes"

So the slight worry I had allowed myself driving down was alleviated by the fact that there was something not right, but not deadly. The "attacks" I had been having, as come up in the diagnosis, were probably all related to the few dang little pea sized inflamed parts of the brain!

Maybe all explained- the clumsiness and all that sugar spilled next to the coffee cups over the years, the different red colours between the left and right eyes I can actually discern, and the tingly neck and legs [which have disappeared at the moment] are all due to a mild case of MS

So far.

And if I take up a course of medicine- self inflicted needle jabbing in the beer pot skin- I should be able to contain any further inflammation/attacks to a minimum.

But I still have to see the GP, and probably go to a MS clinic up at the Big Smoke. What all this means down the track will more apparent, as far as inhibiting job prospects or working in the patch again, probably no affect. Fingers crossed and not twitching...



1 comment:

  1. ah, guess what- a Wikipedia read through and a follow to an eye problem of colour perception, mainly discerning RED, is mentioned... hmmm.

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