Hi,

I'm a 26 year old female, fit as a fiddle, and as happy as can be. I was at work (waitressing) at the of my shift just relaxing when I noticed my left hand and foot felt strangely cold and lacking in feeling. Within 24 hours the entire left side of my body, to exclude my head and face had gone numb. Well, numb with hot/cold/ithchy/tingly flashes. I could draw a line right down the middle, for example, the left side of my tummy is numb but the right isn't. I'm a Veteran and have to go through the VA hospital in order to afford health care, and they are not interested in letting me see a neurologist because the numbness is my only symptom. Does anyone have any idea what may be going on? I really scared it could be something major, and am wondering if I should break the bank in order to go to a private hospital?

--like a stroke or other brain/vascular event than anything else, given the sudden onset and the presence of a definite midline demarcating symptoms; though given the head and face are excluded (so far), this might also involve pressure in the spinothalamic tracts or in the cervical spinal cord.

I don't understand why the VA hospital would be uninterested in seeing you--given the wide distribution and sudden onset this definitely seems a medical emergency.