I have had a pain issue in my left arm since last July.
I am working with the VA on the issue since August (they either took 3 weeks or 5 weeks to get a doctor to see me, I really don't remember).
The issue is still undiagnosed, although we do know that there are nerve impingements at the neck (mild nerve pinch), elbow (ulnar entrapment) and wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome); there is likely a torn rotator cuff, and a torn bicep. The latter two issues developed since January, and are likely due to misusing my muscles to compensate for the movement restriction the impingements have caused.
And the cherry on top...I've been having little lumps develop under my skin since January. Their locations correlate with the areas in which I experiencer pain.
One of the problems I have had in diagnosing this thing is that various pain mitigations work inconsistently; so we haven't been able to pin a cause by throwing solutions at it; the other issue is that this kind of problem, which may be neurological, is hard to diagnose. Finally, the usual VA slowness has combined with the covid scam to compound the normal delays.
Little Bumps
My thinking on the matter is that whatever is causing the lumps (painful lil bastids to be sure) is the source of the issue. My doctor thinks the issue is neuro in nature. The torn muscles are a result of the underlying issue whichever way that turns out.
- The first possibility: trigger points
From Subclavius Trigger Point Diagram
It just so happens that these are the areas in which the pain hangs out at. The massage therapist thinks it is trigger points. The physical therapist says it is trigger points.
The doctor doesn't think so, and I haven't be so sure that it is trigger points since I read up on...
These seem to fit the characteristics better than the trigger point possibility; not mentioned so far is the quarter size lump on my neck, right above the clavicle). For example, the wiki notes that these nodules can cause nerve impingement.
And yet, the rheumatology department doesn't think that this explanation is likely. And my lumps are under the skin, they don't poke out like this:
So, still undiagnosed after almost a year, and the doc won't just chop the filthy arm off and let me mount a computer directed submachine gun in it's place.
That's a Cyberpunk2020 joke, kids. I'll be here all week.
For the future
I'll go up to Temple, Texas to see an orthopedist in a couple of weeks. I think I can get up and back on the same day on Amtrak, and that will be cool because I haven't been on the train since I was a kid 40 years ago. The VA is trying to schedule me for an outside neurologist , but only God knows when that'll happen.
I'm getting more used to the pain, yet I still flinch in over reaction sometimes. I'm getting better writing and in holding focus. Even so, I don't think I could live the rest of my life at this level of pain. In fact, I have more sympathy for opoid users now. I broke down and asked for opiates 3 weeks ago. The doc put me on another round of Medrol (steroid) instead, and that's a good thing...I have been telling them the whole time "NO OPOIDS", so he saved me from myself.
That was the fourth cycle, and it gave me 5 days of pain relief(1st cycle 5 days, 2nd cycle 11 days, 3rd cycle 2 days). I don't know how long before he gives me he next cycle; I think he worries I'll eat too much, and right now I'm at the non-diabetic and pre-diabetic line.
I submitted a paper for DEFCON29 (see last post). and I'm going come hell or high water. However, I'm going to miss a long looked-forwared-to family reunion. I may make our next battalion reunion, and I may not...it's in San Antonio,so I can drive down (oops, I forget I only have one good arm, and the bad one starts screaming when I move around).
Thanks for reading, and I hope you got something useful out of it!
Blue32