I put this up here not so much as a question but just to relay experience. I went to neurologist for my fifth emg in four years. I had one of the legs/feet, arms/hands in January, but the normal numbness in my hands has become more pronounced in the thumb, index finger and middle finger of my left hand. I also went for cervical mri last week. I have two herniated disks that impinge on the spinal cord, one more than the other, but they havent gotten much if any worse since the last mri in 2004. Anyway, the doctor doing the emg was not my doctor but another doctor at the same practice. So you can just tell by the hmming and questions hes asking, such as have i ever had a sural nerve biopsy(no but ive had everything else including lumbar puncture), about the constant numbness in my feet and hands, about if a cause was found....that one a few times.....so just my left arm, hand and neck was done and after I asked him what does it show, so he says he has to do calculations but that I might have something else going on besides PN, that I have soft F waves on both arms now. Not knowing what it means I ask and he is very obtuse. So I ask should i be worried, and he says thats an open ended question and he cant tell me iff i should worry or not. So of course all day yesterday i feel like i have been kicked in the gut. Taking my cue from Glenn I do my own research and discover that it indicates most likely a nerve lesion or impingement at the nerve root or between the root and the muscle. As in herniated disks in the neck which i already know i Have and which he would have known if he had bothered to ask. All of which goes to prove that most doctors have no social graces and that we have to be our own advocates and researchers.

double-edged sword? It's good to have fresh, unbiased eyes look at stuff, but on the other hand, 'pregnant' UMMMers do NOT do much in the way of PR or patient well-being! Give that guy at least 25 lashes with a half-way done noodle! Maybe, between the splatter and the splut!s he mite just get the idea?

I followed Bob B's lead and read up on the 'beauties' of seural and punch biopsies...and concluded, that any doc is gonna have to know a heck of a lot more than the 'trust me phrase' to convince me that such a test would a} tell them more than they already know now b} the test is to be done AT ALL the rite labs-so's the results aren't compromised and c} all other tests don't tell them what they all already know. Sorry sounds like one neuro I experienced...I just got the feeling that he wanted to 'do it' -simply because he'd not done one before and wanted it under his belt. SORRY! NOT ME!
The 9 of 10 rule applies for me so far. Why should I risk more infection and nerve damage to have docs do what they're doing alredy. No-Brainer.

Yep, I've vented! - You have another more primary doc than this one? Offer some constructive criticism re this guy - you don't need that grief!
Joe, I'm sort of surprised you didn't break out that 2X4 of yours!

Good thoughts always! - j

One way of looking at what the doc said is this: PN is due to something else. Whether an inherited disorder, diabetes, injury, nutritional deficiency, or whatever.

Of course, you know that. Unfortunately, the differences in doctors' understanding and use of the language makes talking about it futile in many cases. You'd have to sit down with the doc and find out what his definitions are as opposed to another doc, a reference material, etc.

Ack!

Best wishes,

rose

I work for a doctor and sometimes when patients come in and they tell us what another doctor has told them I just want to go shake the other doctor. I wish I could find a doctor as efficient at neuropathy study as the eye doctor I work for is in problems of the eye.

I have found, that some of the best doctors have no bedside manner, whatsoever. When my daughter was 2, she needed a orthopedic surgeon and Dr Haverbush was the best in his field, BUT, no bedside manner whatsoever and he would not speak to me, only my husband. If we had not been so limited in the field, I would have tried to find someone else.

I go to a group of doctors and on one visit, I once again had to describe my celiac symptoms and the doctor on this visit was one I had not seen before. He says to me, "Oh, my son has celiacs, he can't have barley!" At that point, I knew this man had no idea what he was talking about and that he had not even researched celiacs for his own son. How sad is that??????

It's up to us to be on top of us. It's not fair, but it's a fact of life.

Deb

Arrgghh!!
I'm so weary of docs who try to look important (or try to be self-important) when the haven't a freakin clue as to what's going on.
They must have a course called B.S. 101 with a large mirror
in the class that has the slogan:
"THIS IS THE FACE YOU WILL EARN YOUR FEE BY"
They hem and haw and look intense and give you 'bubkis' !
(and by the way)..........."we take Visa & Master Change" on your way out.
(Joe, Rose & j., mucho thanks for the thoughts & prayers)

I just got a copy of the written report for the emg/ncs and lo and behold it says i have PN in the tested left arm/ hand. It also says there is no indication of any cervical disk nerve entrapments or any radiculopathy (entrapment of one nerve) or plexopathy( entrapment of a complex of nerves). There is further demyelination from the last test done on that arm but its minor. So basically the results just reaffirmed what I already knew and was told before and all that concern was unnecessary and for naught. I told my neurologist what happened and that I wasnt very happy about it at all.

2 steps forward, 3 steps back huh? The other thing that gets me is when you know more about what's wrong with you then the doctor can figure out. Back to the vicious cycle!!!!!

Deb

I dunno, I'm a bit more forgiving of the guy. Usually the person doing the EMG/NCS does not want to say anything about the result, because it really takes a bit of time poring over it to figure it out. Asked a question that puts him on the spot, the doc/tech is just human enough to flub through it.

I can see that the question: "Should I worry?", could put the guy over the edge. Think about it--he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. If he says "No", and you have something serious, he's flubbed, and if he says "yes", he's set you off where you are BOUND to ask him more questions about what he sees.

I'm past being astonished at the bad manners and bad habits and attitudes of so many of our doctors, but on the other hand, I can see how if we don't formulate our questions well, and they don't know us well, we put them on the spot.

It's kind of like a woman asking a guy for a talk about "feelings". His immediate reaction is PANIC!

i can empathize with the poor shnook. Asked "Should I worry?", and he's in panic mode.

Let's be a bit forgiving of the guy. If he did a good EMG, and made it as painless as he could, and there's a competently written report, I'd let him off the hook. There are so many really bad things to get our craw. You know what I mean? I mean, I doubt that this guy was even motivated by arrogance or ego. He just didn't know what to say. It takes a good amount of time to sit down with the tracings and figure them out, he's not your doctor, and he's asked a high intensity question.

So, he flubbed. Can you forgive him? Save the real resentment for the real a**holes among them?

Compared to what else I have experienced in the last five years, this was small potatoes. You are correct he did say he had to check out the numbers on his computer, but the way he hmmmed and uh huh'd kinda made me wonder....haha......I went into it not expecting anything earth shaking, three fingers on left hand had been more numb than usual. Im not one to hold grudges and I didnot argue with the doctor who did it that day...just asked.