Hey, I'm Bilateral!

So I finally sucked it up and decided to go back to see Dr. Millard. The big clencher was that I'm coming up on the end of my quarter at school and on the very slim chance he says I need to go back in for more surgery, I will have to withdraw from school again so I need to know sooner rather than later.

When Dr. Millard came in, he immediately said "So which arm are you here for this time?" which I thought was pretty amusing since I'd spent a very uncomfortable night the night before with BOTH arms hurting. I'd had a few symptoms off and on in my left arm since the summer but nothing major so I'd never brought it up. But I suppose now is as good a time as any. I told him that the pain in my right arm had been consistent over the past few weeks and I had some similar symptoms in my left as well. And much to my chagrin and totally expected, he said he was sending me back for another EMG and NCS but this time in both arms for the ulnar nerve in the elbow as well as the Guyon Canal and Carpal Tunnel in the wrist. I was really not looking forward to the needles and electric shocks again.

My second experience with an EMG and NCS was no more fun than the first one, in fact it was definitely worse. Mostly because it was doubled since this time I was tested in both arms. The tests were done this time by Dr. Rossi, a colleague of Dr. Millard's. First he did the Nerve Conduction Study (NCS) which isn't really fun but not horrible. The shocks can really make you jump and some hurt a little. Next came the Electromyography (EMG) test. This one is not fun! He took a small needle and poked it in various muscles of my arm and hand. Each time he placed it in a muscle, he dug it around and then would have me flex the muscle so he could listen and see the electrical activity of my arm. Flexing against a needle is quite painful. The worst places were when the needle was in my hand.

Afterwards, my hands hurt a lot and my arms just felt overall sore as if they had been worked really hard or were bruised. Dr. Rossi said that based on what he saw, I still had mild Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand and mild Carpal and Guyon Canal Syndromes in my left, which was previously undiagnosed. I'm officially bilateral. So based on his results, there's no reason for me to have pain in my right pinkie finger or elbow, something I don't buy. So basically, the torture tests are inconclusive in my book. He can't tell me that I don't have pain when I do. Now I just have to wait to see what Dr. Millard says.