Friday, February 24, 2012

And The Doctor Said....

I somehow managed to capture the photo of this Bird in Hawaii on the Ko Olina property

Hey Ya'll,

Well, today I made the ride into town to see our Primary Care Doctor.  I have been having a recurrence of symptoms.  Well, actually, the symptoms have escalated and started to show signs of possible Cervical Disc problems again.

About 3 weeks ago, my right Shoulder began hurting, like all the time.  Then, about a week later my Neck started to hurt again.  I had gone through some pretty severe Neck pain last year where I wanted to cut the Neck off!  But my PCD thought that it was probably just old age Arthritis, so she prescribed Celebrex for me, which seemed to help a lot.  Until the last few weeks.

Then, about a week ago, I started to notice that I was having periodic tingling/numbness from my Earlobe to my Cheek, down to my Shoulder, and sometimes all the way down to the Elbow on my right side.  And now, it is happening all the time!  So I made the appointment, at first she thought that it was something that I should see a Rheumatologist for since it involved a lot of Joints.  But after telling her all my symptoms, and her evaluation of my upper body strength, she feels that it could possibly be my Neck.  So I am going to go in for another MRI of the Neck, to determine if I should go back to the Neurologist/Neurosurgeon, or back to the Rheumatologist.  I will keep you posted.

I believe it all started when I was a little girl (about age 9) (and this is a condensed telling without all the details).  I fell from the top of a swing set onto my Back!  I couldn't move from my Neck down for about an hour (I'm talking paralyzed!).  Luckily, the feeling came back in my body, but I have had Back/Leg pain ever since.  My older Cousin was babysitting my Brother and I, and our Cousins at the time, and neither she nor I ever told my Parents until about 10 years ago, so I wasn't seen by a Doctor at the time.....

Then, when I was about 25 yrs old, I had a roller skating accident while outdoor skating at the Beach in Southern Calif.  I couldn't miss a guy skating in a small group towards our group, and I just about broke my Neck hitting him Face first!!  It did break my Nose!!  But the Doctor's said that the only reason that I didn't break my Neck, is because for some unknown reason, my instincts told me to hit him Face first, not to turn my Head to the side, to protect my Nose!!  I have had Neck/Shoulders/Back/Hips/Leg pain ever since....

I eventually had to have 2 of my Cervical Discs Fused, about 13-14 years ago.  At the time the Neurosurgeon did the Surgery, he told me that by Fusing the Discs, it would probably cause extra wear and tear on the Discs above, and or below the Fusion, and that I could possibly have to have more Discs Fused in the future....lucky me!  But if it would help with the Neck and Shoulder pain, it would help a lot!

So, only tests and time will tell.  I will keep you posted, till next time....

Aloha My Friends  :)

4 comments:

Lonicera said...

Poor you - this sounds dreadful. Would be very interested to know the result of the scan when you have it.
That bird takes me back to childhood. In Argentina they're called cardinals for obvious reasons.
Caroline

Debi said...

Thanks Caroline! I will post the results and what step is next....

And thanks for naming the Bird! You're right, it is a great name for it!

Kelli said...

Hope they find out what's going on. Hang in there!

Debi said...

Thanks Kelli! I am afraid that the MRI will show that I do have some changes in my Cervical Discs. And because of my symptoms, I am afraid that it could mean Surgery.

BUT...since I have to have Surgery to remove my Lap Band anyway, then at least my maximum out of pocket will be met for the year, and I can have both Surgeries for less money!

I like to look at things from the whats good about this side of things...