Two years ago I had carpel tunnel surgery on my right wrist. At the time I was also having pain in my left wrist & knew that I would eventually need the same surgery on it too. The pain in my left wrist went away, so I waited on the second surgery. A few months ago the pain started up again, so I called to make a doctor's appointment. My doctor is really busy and hard to get in to see, so a lot of times they try to get you to see the PA, but I knew Eli and I were going on our cruise, so I took an appointment that was six weeks away.
We got back to town on May 14th and my appointment was on the 16th. I explained to the doctor that I thought I now had carpal tunnel in my left wrist, but that the pain was different this time. When I explained which fingers were numb, Dr. Curzon questioned the fact that my pinkie finger was numb because the carpal tunnel nerve does not affect the pinkie. He then asked if I'd been having any pain in my neck. I told him that back in September when I went to visit my sister I had slept wrong the first night and woke up with a kink in my neck, but the pain has never really gone away. He then explained that when there is a pinched nerve in the neck it affects the nerves in the pinkie. I went away from the appointment with two more appointments...one for an x-ray of my neck and one for a nerve conductivity test. YAY...not! Those nerve conductivity tests hurt!
Radiology at Central Utah Medical Center takes walk in appointments, so I went right from the doctor's office to CUMC for the x-ray. The nerve conductivity test was scheduled for Thursday, the 19th. On Wednesday, Dr. Curzon's nurse called to say they had the results of the x-ray back and it did show signs of deterioration probably caused by arthritis, so they wanted me to get an MRI also. I scheduled it for Thursday after the nerve test...Then I waited...
Dr. C had said to call his office if I did not hear from him within three days after the tests. I waited until Wednesday of the next week and didn't get any calls, so Thursday morning I called the doctor. He had taken a few extra days off since the following Monday was Memorial Day...I hate waiting!
Tuesday as I was walking in the door from work the phone started ringing, so I answered it. It was Dr. Curzon on the phone. He said the MRI showed deterioration in my C3, C4, C5, and C6 vertebrae with slight damage to the C7 also. He used a bunch of medical terminology, but basically said that arthritis was encroaching on the nerves and leaving them less room, but the nerve was not actually pinched...No wonder I've had a pain in my neck! He gave me some options. Physical Therapy was least invasive, but with the amount of deterioration I have it would not be enough. An x-ray guided epidural injection of cortisone was the next option, then two different types of surgery. The first not being as aggressive as the second, but with the number of vertebrae involved I may not be a good candidate for the "simple" surgery. I don't really want any surgery! Dr. C suggested I go for the injection and also have a consultation with the clinic that does the first type of surgery. If the injection works I can either cancel the consult or go and see if it is an option for down the road when the pain returns.
Today I went for the injection. The radiologist that performed the injection told me it would hurt at first and I may not feel any relief for a few days. OUCH! It felt like there was some huge person sitting on my back! Now my whole body aches like I have the flu...let's hope I feel better tomorrow!
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