um, OW!

Yeah, I mean OWWWWWWWWWWW! That was not fun! I had my EMG this morning. I seriously almost passed out. The initial part of the EMG was okay-- the "nerve" part. Basically, they send shock signals through these little tape pads into different parts of your body and your nerves react. It is totally non-invasive-- just stings and makes you jump. The worst part of that was the back of the knees and then my ankle / foot with the neuroma.

The 2nd part of the EMG was one of the most painful things ever-- especially the calf muscle and my back around my spine. OH. MY. GOSH. The neuro jabs you in various places with a needle, which then sends electric impulses into the muscle. Granted, the needle is not quite the size of a shot needle, but it is definitely NOT the size of the pins you see used for acupuncture either. The really awful part is the wiggling of the needle in your muscle when the dr. can't get the reaction he is looking for. I closed my eyes when the dr. told me that all I needed to do for this 2nd part was try to relax-- LOL. As you can imagine, you bleed in all these spots you're being jabbed in, so the dr. hands you a paper towel to take care of that in the midst of jabbing you. Somehow (honestly, I was praying the whole time), I got through the whole thing-- all the way to the end where he was jabbing me in the spine and neck. He then started talking to me about the results and my follow-up next week with the rheumatologist, and I started thinking, "huh, I think I might throw up... nah, it'll pass... um, no... it's not going to". I wasn't quite sure if I was going to throw up or pass out. I think I blurted out something like, "I think I'm going to throw up", which was eerily reminiscent of the afterglow of giving birth to Thomas. The pain in my lower back, coupled with what seemed to be my ovaries was also very familiar. I think the neuro. asked me if I wanted to lie down and I think I must have said yes, because I remember him saying, "Then, do" and I fell back on the table... Andrew was there with me thankfully. I'm not sure how gracefully I did so in my hospital gown-- that thought just occurred to me, LOL. All I know is that I was burning up and wasn't sure I was going to stay conscious for a bit there.

When I finally pulled it together, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to get dressed or what, so we waited a while before we gave up and Andrew asked the nurse in the hallway what we were supposed to do... I was having back spasms and I still feel like I've been beat up-- and it's all still kind of foggy to me, so I'm not sure I understand still. What I think I remember is that my EMG didn't show any abnormalities in nerve / muscle conduction, but because of my continued twitches even though I am on neurontin, I am now going to be on three times the amount. If I understand and remember correctly, the twitches could either be benign fasciculation syndrome, or somehow connected to the low thyroid levels the integrative dr. identified. I think he mentioned something about a possible autoimmune thyroid something. So I am supposed to have this appointment with the rheumatologist on the 24th and then possibly an endocrinologist after that. That just REALLY, REALLY frustrates me because I just want a blasted answer already... and as I said to Andrew earlier (paraphrased), I have to deal with lots of physical imperfections as I am getting older, I don't think I should have to just "live" with never-ending twitching all over my body at the age of 35-- I just shouldn't.

Off for now... my back can't take this chair anymore-- I wanted to write about the poor old man and woman in the waiting room, but that will wait until later. Let me just say, if you have elderly people in your family, please help them when they need you, and say a prayer for them when you can't physically be there to help them. This couple just broke my heart today. I'll be saying a prayer for them.

Lynn