You are in a cycle which I consider one of the most painful, frustrating and illogical aspects of dealing with work comp / insurance and TOS...BUREACRACY...STUPID STAFF...

That is when the docs and staff cannot seem to see that by sending the MRI to a certain doc, location, etc., could speed up the diagnosis or treatment issues, and get you help quicker and with less confusion than the STUPID way in which the staff is handling it per their own non-thinking auto-pilot maneuvers...AAARRRGGGHHHHH! The FRUSTRATION of it all!

Sometimes faxes help - when I remind them that under HIPAA, I have a RIGHT to copies of my medical images and information, and that I can give authorization or direct that they deliver a copy (a CD or DVD) of an image to a specific doc who is already treating me...and I lay the foundation that the goal is to minimize costs of treatment while minimizing the amount of time I remain totally temporarily disabled...

But sometimes none of my maneuverings work, and in those situations, I have to sit back and say to God, "Help me deal with my frustration and pain." Then the next job is to lower that pain by any of our means available...gentle massage, avoiding troublesome family members, making sure at least financially that I've got things as simple as possible...

And then, when I see a crack in the idiocy by the staff, and another way I can push my case towards new treatment, etc., I make an appt. with the doc, or do another different type of fax, or make a call to my w/c attorney with specific requests for help that ultimately make his job easier.

Somehow, someway, we've got to pace ourselves for the long marathon that is managing, treating and dealing with all aspects of TOS.

It ain't easy folks.

So hang in there. Pull back and maybe see where you want to go in your treatment, and what it will take to get there, or, do nothing for a short while, but wait, get gentle massage, (or whatever it is you can do to lower pain and frustration), and wait for the opportunities and situations to change on their own. (They always do.)

God bless you Lil' Muckity Muck. Hang on.

Hi there and thank you girls for the MRI sights i still can't make head or tales of it ha ha. But i am going to keep trying my headache is down to a dull roar now so at lest i can function better. My neck is still bad and i know that will not get better until i can go back to message. My right arm is not aching as bad as my left so that is a good sign but my fingers are swollen like great big sausages ha ha. And my hands are burning like crazy i am almost ready to go out side and stick them into the snow we are getting right now but i know if i do that i will only end up in worse pain. My right shoulder is so tight not as bad as the left side so that must be a good sign as well so even though i still have pain and the same symptoms i had before surgery they do seem to be getting a wee bit better. Don't get me wrong the pain is still sever but at lest now i can say there is a difference from the left and right side. I have decided that if i don't hear any thing from the neurologist by Nov 16th i am going to call and see if they got the report and see if they will send it over to loane i see him on the 20th so may be i can fined out from him if anything shows up i well take the pics with me and see if he can tell me anything from them if the report isn't there yet. Any ways my fingers are very sore so i am out of here bye for now.

Hay there will i had my emg done and he said that they have improved slightly which is good news i guess because i feel no different. He said i wouldn't feel any change because it's not enough of a improvement and he said he dose not recommend re-surgery for the tos he doesn't think that will help ether so i asked if i should try and use the braces again and that was a big no he said he is afraid i will just have to live with the pain. He also told me if my upper arm that is hypersensitive hasn't changed by now it wont i will have to live with that as will. The odd thing was he was about to tell me he was going to recommend that i see a neurologist he thinks there is something else going on with me. I laughed and told him that i already saw one and had the MRI done and was waiting to see her again. All week i have been having really bad headaches and my hands have been so swollen they just wont go down. this is a first for me before they would swell but go down now they just stay that way from the time my eyes open till they close. So according to the test i should be better but i sure in hell don't feel it yet i don't get it. Now its the waiting game for the results from the MRI are they going to say i am fine or will they finely tell me what is going on. Well here's hopping any ways bye for now.

Gosh Mucker!!

I hope you will pursue testing for circulation problems. I would be very concerned about the swelling and headaches, especially if these are new or intensified problems.

I confess, I have not read all of your posts regarding the surgery, but it sounds as though the emphasis has been on a neurogenic issue. Your circulation suddenly now appears to be a more immediate problem.

Not knowing anything about the medical system in your part of the world, I don't know what your options are. But if I were experiencing this constant swelling and severe headaches, I would consider going to an emergency room, or the eqivalent.

I am not trying to scare you, but I don't know if an MRI will provide the answers to circulation issues. Sometimes surgeons seem to have tunnel vision and are looking only at the problems that were addressed in surgery.

I will keep you in my thoughts.
Anne

Hi Mucker,

So sorry to hear of the new swelling. I suggest calling your doc first thing in the AM and tell the symptoms as well as your neuro. This could be vascular.

The other issue is that the the nerves control the vessels. So neruo issues could also be at play. Do not go by an EMG to diagnose or tell you how your TOS is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine were always normal and I had an 80% blockage in my veins!!!! So neuro issues unless SEVERE are rarely shown on EMG.

I hope that you seek the help you need asap. Waiting any longer without a veiongram or angiogram (where the can xray your blood vessels when dye is in them) and it is a clot and you could be in HUGE trouble. Your headaches may be due to the swelling and the pressure in your neck muscles. Your swelling may go up your arm and it could irritate your neck or other areas.

PLEASE PLEASE GO AND GET HELP, OR THE VERY LEAST CALL ASAP
please. I know it is hard but tell the nurse or reception to let you speak to the surgeon (and or the neuro--probably both) due to the symptoms as you need to know if a trip to ER is in order......if no response go to ER and don't wait until the next day!!!

If you do go to ER take all relevant info with you ie surgery reports test results and ANY AND ALL info on TOS as they likely will have never heard of it!! It sucks and they will think you want something for your headache and that you are drug seeking.....they have done this to me many times.....
So go armed and dangers try to stay cool and try to get help sooner rather than later...

love and hugs,
Victoria

ps just a thought what colour is your hand???? if not red or blue or pink it could be lymph swelling due to scar tissue on lymph system and you are not clearing it and it may need to be massaged. I still have a lot of lymph blockage due to my surgery and the scar tissue.
If your hand is hot and red or cold and purple/blue could be due to vascular issues!!!
Try to see what is going on and go armed with your symptoms and your issues!!

lovve and hugs,
Victoria

Hi will i can't get in to the doc until next week and i just can't sit at emergency. I just don't have the patience for that and my hands are still swollen but the color is no different then any other time. But my neck is killing me right at the base it seems like two of the vertebrae are the col-perts that are causing the pain i am not sure though if this is causing my shoulders to tighten up or not i guess i will just have to wait till i get in to see the doc. Will its been three months now and i still don't feel any better i am starting to wonder if there is really something else wrong or i am one of the ones who are going to take a long time heal. I hope the MRI shows something then at lest i can stop wondering what the hell is going on with me. I know i have carpel tunnel but the numbers have me close to the border line and i know i have TOS which he has been fixed on one side so far so what the hell is wrong with me. I am starting to think that there has to be something else wrong with my hands other then carpel tunnel with them aching and swelling and the changes in colour and temp. With both of them acting the same at the same time it has to be more then TOS and i know it is not carpel tunnel because my left side doesn't have carpel tunnel. Will i just got off the phone with the comp nurse and of course she would not tell all about the MRI but she did say that my brain is fine and there were some things in my neck but would not go in to it she said it is better if the doc tells me but not to worry that it is nothing serious and its just part of my body go figure. Will i guess i better go and call my case worker he is now back from holidays thank god the other one who replaced him was a real #!*&#$% if ya know what i mean so i have to get a hold of him and see if i can't straiten out the mess she has made and maybe i can get started on my schooling. Any ways chat later

You could try some lymphatic drainage massage on yourself - I don't think it would be harmful in anyway. It is done with a very light touch, a friend can do it for you if your arms aren't up to it.
If the swelling responds at all that would give you a clue to a possible cause.

this is a google link to a listing of video's on lymphatic massage
http://video.google.com/videosearch?...ge&sitesearch=

Mucker,
I am so sorry to see that you are suffering like this. I will keep you in my prayers.

Hi will i have tried that lymphatic drainage massage that jo55 sent the link to and thank you jo55. If i am doing it right it has done nothing so far my hands are still swollen and i am finding that the muscle on top of my breast across from my armpit is tighing and tender at the same time. So god only knows whats going on now. I go and see my family doctor on Thursday so hopefully she will have some news on the MRI and i am going to get her to start thinking of some thing new because i am not so sure any more that whats happening on my right side is tos or carpel tunnel there must be something else going on that there just not thinking of or testing for. Its time to kick them in the *** and get them using there brains in stead of focusing on just the two diagnoses. Will that's it for now my elbow is aching like crazy and my hands are getting bigger so be back later this week once i see the doc.

Hi all well i saw the family doc and found out what the MRI said and i don't think that it sounds to good. She said that at the C5-6 there is a narrowing which is causing the nerves to be pressed on and there is disk herniation at T3-T4. Now she did say other stuff but i am not sure what she was talking about because she was using medical terms and i just wasn't in the right frame of mind to sit and ask what the hell she was talking about so i got a copy of the report and you can hardly read it i am not even sure how she could figure out most of it. Any ways i called the neurologist office again and told them if they haven't received the reports yet that i have everything so i will just bring it with me so they are going to call me some time to day with a time and day. So i guess i will find out what they can do or what they are going to do to me now. Right now the main thing i wont to know is this narrowing has anything to do with my job i know the herniated disks would be just because of the heavy lifting i did and i know a lot of guys end up with the same problem where i worked. So its back to sit and wait ya ya bye for now hands are hurting to much.