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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Day 4



Okay, so day 4 was actually yesterday but I met with my sister after my appointment and we ended up hanging out until after 10pm. By the time I was back at my mom's I just didn't have the energy to post :)

I met yesterday with the Internal Medicine doc. and we talked about how things had gone at the headache clinic the previous afternoon. I told him about my concerns with the lack of appointment with this oral facial pain specialist and asked for some guidance. He basically had the same stance as the other doc had - that this is the guy with the experience and knowledge to help me. Suddenly I felt unsure about how hard I should be pushing here while avoiding getting some kind of a label that will only make getting help more difficult. He wasn't really able to give me any guidance beyond letting me know that he's had other patients who have just come back a second time to see him. So I just let it go so we could move on. I'll contact my home neurologist on Monday and just let her know the situation and see if she has any suggestions. I just don't want to go home without addressing my known jaw issues with someone.

My blood is all normal. Expected.

My nerve study was normal. This was unexpected. I have all kinds of aching and tingling in my hands and lower arms; I just assumed that was the problem. And the physical exam was positive...The internist didn't really have an answer to what is going on there. One of my wonderful followers, Selena, suggested that some of my symptoms sound like Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I did some checking on Mayo's site and these symptoms could very well be something like that. I'll bring it up with the Physical Medicine doc I see this week. Thanks Selena!

Hey, aren't these the kinds of suggestions that the internist should have come up with?

He didn't really see a role for himself as things move forward with the appointments the neurologist recommended so he let me know that he would be sending copies of everything to my home when it was all said and done. And that was that.

Now I'm just looking forward to having a nice weekend before another long week of appointments. Do you ladies have anything planned for the weekend?

4 comments:

  1. Normal is good - means no reeaallly bad things are happening besides the headache and the jaw!

    My insurance doesn't pay for TMJ treatment - why I don't know - its a definite exclusion and my boss with TMJ told me our old insurance excluded it also - what's up with that? Seems like they just pick and choose what diseases are medical adn what are dental based on body location...

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  2. Insane isn't it? I'm lucky that my insurance does cover TMJ disorders. People deserve better than what the insurance industry has inflicted on us.

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  3. I had not heard of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome either. Thanks for sharing that. I always think that the more information I have, the more empowered I am as a patient, and the better prepared I will be to advocate on my own behalf.

    Some people collect sea shells or stamps. I collect journal articles about headaches and chronic pain. Hey - everyone needs a hobby, right?

    Good luck with your visit tomorrow.

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  4. :) Gives us something to do right?

    Thanks Sue!

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