Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mystery

I was walking around Red Butte Garden with Reuben's class for a field trip, wearing my beloved maxi skirt. I noticed that as it swished around my legs it felt funny on my left leg. Like I was wearing nylon's or something. I could kind of feel it but not really. When I got home and really focused on it, I could tell that my lower left side of my left leg and foot were numb. Like I had been outside in below zero weather for too long. I had been noticing a feeling like a fly crawling around on my lower left leg for a couple weeks before this, but there was never one around. So, I wasn't shocked that I was numb. But it did feel different than "falling asleep" usually my hip is the culprit there, so it is my entire leg. No matter when I didn't I couldn't get the feeling back.

It didn't go away. So I made an appointment with a doctor. She broke a tongue depressor and started poking me with it. Sure enough, I wasn't making it up. I could feel a sharp poke on my right side, but on my left it felt like she was pushing with the rounded end.

So, I had a Lumbar MRI. And we went to the Grand Canyon and New Mexico. All the while with numbness in that leg and foot.

In New Mexico we went to a corn maze, as soon as I sat down in the car my whole left side started to tingle and start to go numb, including my face. It felt like I had been shot with novocain, but it was my entire left side. my face, my scalp and ear, my neck, and shoulder, and arm and left side of my back, and left side of my chest, my hip, and my entire leg. It felt like I was swollen, but didn't look it. It lasted several hours. Then I twisted, and my back popped, and I started to regain feeling.

The Lumbar MRI results came back with nothing that should be causing numbness, but I do have arthritis. So, I was sent to do a brain MRI. It just so happened that as soon as it was scheduled my entire left side started to do that tingly thing. I wasn't completely numb during the MRI, but I was starting to go numb, and was completely numb driving home.

So while I was numb, I went to a different doctor. He ruled out stroke, and then told me to wait for the MRI results, waved the co-pay and sent me home. Wasn't that nice of him?

So I waited two and a half weeks. The Brain MRI was normal. Now, I have an appointment with a neurologist, and they may want to do more tests I am warned, like an MRI with contrast. I'll wait until I hear from the neurologist before I psych myself out.

Symptoms:
The numbness comes and goes, and is different degrees of numbness. I often have a headache with it, but not always. It starts at different times of day, and sometimes goes away after a few hours, and sometimes stays all the way through the night and I wake up numb. I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, but this is not new. My hands shake, but that is not new.  My blood pressure is normal. And I've been taking my allergy medicine.


2 comments:

Tammy Lorna said...

THANK YOU for posting the update on the MRI results. I've been thinking and worrying about you and you've been in my prayers ever since you first mentioned it.

I do think you'll be okay though. And no point psyching yourself out just yet, right? If you get to that point, message me. We'll facetime, and I'll either psych out with you, or talk you out of your psych out - whichever response you think would be most helpful, okay? :)

Love you, will keep praying for you, and am so thankful for priesthood blessings.

xoxo Tammy

PS. Oh, and if you need me to track down Hugh Laurie, you just let me know...

Sue Wood said...

Brecken - Have you heard from the neurologist. I know what all of this feels like. Hope it is something easy to take care of. Remember, I have MS and these are some of my symptoms. But they could also be something much easier to treat. I will keep watching your blog to see what you find out. Sue Wood