Thanks, Debra.

Well, I hope you will get your vitamin B12 and homocysteine and methylmalonic acid checked (or rechecked). A deficiency can cause lesions too.

I hope you will be VERY careful after the lumbar. Make sure you keep drinking fluids, stay still as much as you can and keep up on the Tylenol. ANY new symptoms should prompt you to call your doc or go in.

Metabolic panels basically show your electrolytes, protein, kidney/liver functions, etc. Some of them do not do magnesium and phosphorus, which is ridiculous since all electrolytes are important. Get copies from the hospital!

An EMG will not show the peripheral neuropathy damage usually. They have to do more specialized testing. I have had a neuropathy since my B12 deficiency and it does not show up on an EMG. It's there, bugging me every day! Mrs. D. would have a lot more info on that or the peripheral neuropathy forum here too!

http://www.91outcomes.com/2010/01/ne...eripheral.html

When you have any kind of surgery, there will be peripheral nerve damage. The very best way to ensure healing is to take at least a 5 mg. (5000 mcg.) sublingual tablet of B12 twice a day. Frankly, you should take more like two tablets three times a day. It helps heal anything faster!!! I like the Jarrow Formulas sublingual methylcobalamin. Again, you can get vitamins at a discount from www.iherb.com where I have been shopping for 11 years. If I forget to take my B12, my PN will flare. But that's because I didn't get sufficient treatment after my B12 deficiency and it wasn't soon enough. It did help heal me after I had surgery and after my muscle biopsy.

Well, I hope you get things figured out. It stinks not knowing. At least if you knew what you were dealing with, you could figure out a way to get better.

Annie