Getting Answers, Part One

I mentioned last week that I was concerned about the tingling and numbness I started to experience in my left arm. As the week progressed, it got worse, with longer and longer periods of heaviness, numbness and tingling. I had lost the ability to pincer grip things between my index finger and thumb, and typing was(and is) an exercise in frustration, because my fingers just weren't getting the messages I was giving.

Then, on Friday, I woke up with the same issues in my right arm. Like the left, it started intermittently, both arms below the elbows felt like I had lead gloves on: hard to move, no pincer grip and numbness with tingling. Ed picked me up from the airport and I told him I was happy that I had the doctor's appointment. I was honestly freaked out that this was progressing so quickly.

Pain, I can tune out because I've done it for years. Numbness is another story. It's new, and it takes a while to be effective at ignoring something. I talked with a friend online, Ed saw the panic in my face this morning and well, he took me to the doctor for the EMG and nerve conduction.

Long story short, my neurologist found no neuropathy. While that might sound bad, that I should find something wrong, what it means is that the herniations and nerve compression in my spine are causing these problems, not something else.

So, off to the neurosurgeon Wednesday. At one time, I thought I'd put off surgery until the end of the semester. Now, I feel like I should not wait, because this will spread. I need to get this done ASAP.

Let's see if the doctor agrees...