Nothing to worry about yet...right?
At long last, progress has been made! For those of you who have read my journals here and there (dA, y!Gallery, etc.), you'll know of my ongoing battle with a mysterious ailment that no doctor has been able to diagnose. After x-rays, blood work, ineffective medications, and an MRI on my spine, the only thing they've agreed upon is that it is neurological. Well, finally, I have been seen by a neurologist; the best one in the region so I've been told. Why it has taken so long, I have no idea, but my patience has paid off. Avenues that have not been explored are being done so now. To start things off, I'm having new tests done: a bone scan and another MRI, this one on my brain.
I felt such relief after my appointment. For over a year I have dealt with numbness in my extremities (particularly my hands), "ghost" sensations, periods of dizziness, sometimes to the point of collapse, and pain radiating from my spine, not to mention the frustration and bouts of hopelessness that went along with them. I was so elated that aggressive action was finally being taken that the gravity of the situation was completely overlooked.
Now it has struck me. Hard.
Bone scans are performed primarily to detect "areas of new bone growth or breakdown" (information courtesy of WebMD). My neurologist is looking to see if possible bone fragments or bone chips in my vertebrae are pinching the nerve clusters emanating from my spine. Believe it or not, a bone scan will reveal more in this situation than an MRI will. I have the test tomorrow. I have to be at the hospital in the morning to have a radioactive dye injected into my arm; then come back two and a half hours later to have the actual scan done. It takes the dye that long to travel through my bloodstream and into my bones. Looks like I won't be visiting my parents any time soon. It can take up to 4 weeks for the dye to clear my system. If I were to travel across the border, I would actually set off their detectors. I know this because it happened to my dad once. He said he never saw so many customs agents seemingly appear out of nowhere and converge on his vehicle than he did on the day he and my mom were returning home from one of their visits, and that was 3 weeks after his test.
What has me concerned the most, however, is the MRI. This one will be to see if I have any lesions in my brain that are preventing it from sending "correct" messages to my central nervous system. In my case it would literally mean that my mind is creating the pain I've been having (and I'm not talking about hypochondria!). There is a disease that has these symptoms: muscular sclerosis (MS). Needless to say, when the doctor mentioned this, I freaked out a bit, but because I'm not displaying symptoms more common with the disease, she's fairly confident that it's not the source of my pain. The MRI is just to be sure. Still, it does weigh on the mind, probably more than it should.
I mean, there's nothing to worry about yet, right?
I felt such relief after my appointment. For over a year I have dealt with numbness in my extremities (particularly my hands), "ghost" sensations, periods of dizziness, sometimes to the point of collapse, and pain radiating from my spine, not to mention the frustration and bouts of hopelessness that went along with them. I was so elated that aggressive action was finally being taken that the gravity of the situation was completely overlooked.
Now it has struck me. Hard.
Bone scans are performed primarily to detect "areas of new bone growth or breakdown" (information courtesy of WebMD). My neurologist is looking to see if possible bone fragments or bone chips in my vertebrae are pinching the nerve clusters emanating from my spine. Believe it or not, a bone scan will reveal more in this situation than an MRI will. I have the test tomorrow. I have to be at the hospital in the morning to have a radioactive dye injected into my arm; then come back two and a half hours later to have the actual scan done. It takes the dye that long to travel through my bloodstream and into my bones. Looks like I won't be visiting my parents any time soon. It can take up to 4 weeks for the dye to clear my system. If I were to travel across the border, I would actually set off their detectors. I know this because it happened to my dad once. He said he never saw so many customs agents seemingly appear out of nowhere and converge on his vehicle than he did on the day he and my mom were returning home from one of their visits, and that was 3 weeks after his test.
What has me concerned the most, however, is the MRI. This one will be to see if I have any lesions in my brain that are preventing it from sending "correct" messages to my central nervous system. In my case it would literally mean that my mind is creating the pain I've been having (and I'm not talking about hypochondria!). There is a disease that has these symptoms: muscular sclerosis (MS). Needless to say, when the doctor mentioned this, I freaked out a bit, but because I'm not displaying symptoms more common with the disease, she's fairly confident that it's not the source of my pain. The MRI is just to be sure. Still, it does weigh on the mind, probably more than it should.
I mean, there's nothing to worry about yet, right?