Some RL rungood for once!

sandman369 · Some RL rungood for once!

Without going into a long back story, the important detail is that I pinched a major nerve in early 2010. Skip ahead to this summer, when I just barely begin to care about real life. I start working out and eating well. Then my bum arm becomes way more noticeable and bothersome because it holds me back for upper-body strength. I still can't bench more than 60 or 70 pounds over a few reps to this day, and that's after building decent muscle. The nerve is either damaged or out of place. It's a constant nagging pain and weakness, and I haven't got a solid night's sleep since the incident because it inevitably gets sore from either sleeping on that side or the pressure on my elbow resting on my body or a pillow if I sleep on the other side or on my back. My pinky and the pinky-side of the ring finger are in a constant pins-and-needles type numbness state, and there's not much feeling in them except for pain when they touch something. And oh god does it suck if I accidentally whack/pinch/smash/squish them.

So, on to the rungood part! I went to a doctor in the summer to see how to progress in the pursuit of fixing this burden. In true Canadian health care fashion, I got an appointment to see a neurologist for an EMG (electromyogram - from my limited understanding, they stick things into your muscles to measure electric impulses), but to my dismay it was scheduled for January 9, 2012. 5 months! Brutal. Flash forward to today. Phone call at lunch: "Hello, Alex? This is Dr. Collier's office. We have you scheduled for an appointment on the 9th of January, but unfortunately, Dr. Collier will be away that week. However he has a cancellation tomorrow morning - would that work for you?" ... fuck YEAH! was my response in my head. 2 months ahead of schedule!

So tomorrow I'm going in to get my muscles poked, and hopefully they can tell what's actually wrong and what my options are. At this point, I'm willing to undergo surgery if I have to, because what I deal with on a daily basis now is worth a risk for a chance to make it all better. My arm's baseline is *sore*, and using it in any way makes it sore and painful. Online poker does not help one bit.

I'm excited for this pleasant surprise! Wish me luck!

Brokerstar

I hope they sort it out for you.

I have had a bad knee for a couple of months and have been able to do next to no Jiu Jitsu and that makes me sad. I'm also looking like I'm out of the English open championships (makes me even sader).

Injury is a real bitch, fingers crossed they can sort you right out!!! Cool

BetMagicMoney

weeeeeeeee binking run good Smile

nice to here you got bump up mate. GLGLGL with things tommorrow Very Happy

forced

all the best!

sandman369

Just got out of the hospital, and man my arm is sore. It kinda hurts having a guy jab a needle into your arm and poke and scrape your muscles!! Shocked

But it's cool hearing the static on the machine from the electrical signals traveling through them.

The news was as I expected mostly, but not what I hoped for. Basically he says there are definite signs that there was injury (duh), but that the nerve has pretty much returned to its natural state. This is basically how he described it to me (as I understood): it's like if you crimp a wire. The damage is done, and the wire itself will work fine, but it will never be like the original wire from the factory. It's now a modified wire.

He is going to get me an MRI test, but in Canada the wait time is usually 6 months, sometimes up to a year. Such is the downfall of socialized health care.

The good news that I learned is that "hurt does not equal harm". So I can do all my normal stuff like working out and using the computer, and it will get sore and be weak, but it doesn't affect the nerves. Nerves heal themselves and just take time. But it sounds like I'm stuck with the mild symptoms unless they find they can fix the disc in my spine, which the doc said would be removing the disc and fusing my spine. Shocked

So if by the time I get the MRI I feel like I can't live with it anymore, then maybe surgery will help. But til then I have to live with it. It's a 24/7 reminder of how stupid I was to stop caring about my health.

So all you fully functional humans, learn from my mistake and don't stop taking care of your health, because preventing really is a LOT easier than repairing. And don't lean on your elbow too much or put pressure on your wrist while playing poker. That's how this shit happens!