Today I saw the Nerve Doctor at St. Luke's Rehabilitation, for a Nerve Study - I was referred by The Orthopoedic Surgeon I see. The test results will go back to the Surgeon, and then I'll see him to find out what I do next.
In the meantime, here's what we found out today: I have no nerve damage at all in any of the nerves or nerve bundles involved in my injury, from my discs in my neck, to my fingers; nor do I have a nerve disease overall.
I do have inflammation in several tendons (muscles) that were found at the injury site (shoulder) and around my neck. The Doctor told me that often the muscles 'lock' up and just the testing of that muscle and several days of 'discomfort' will cause it to 'break' it's 'lock' and gradually, with Physical Therapy, to get better. (For two years my treatments were for a bone, rather than a soft tissue injury and that kept the area from healing. So, for practical reasons, I'm really starting at the beginning treating this soft tissue injury.)
What was really a positive experience for me was seeing other patients with involuntary squinting (which I now have), slurred speech, difficulty writing and walking, shoulder pain, etc. Plus the Doctor was so non-plussed about these same things - he must see these nerve symptoms a lot. So overall, I think the experience was a good one, and the findings were also good. The Nerve Doctor was also very chatty and very funny which made the experience even greater! More later.
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