Okay, it just might be time for me to eat a little crow.
That Ortho I saw yesterday...who didn't even look at my MRI, who never touched me, only looked at me and said "it's not the rotator and it's not TOS". The one who would only give me a steroid and darvocet and spent all of 3 minutes with me.
I started the two meds yesterday, and last night was the best night of sleep I have had in weeks. (yay!!!!!!!!)
It may be a little premature to get this excited, but I only woke once last night with tingling fingers and moderate burning pain in the forearm. As I type here, my hands are going numb, wrist aching like carpel tunnel but yesterday I had to stop typing after every word due to the pain. This morning I am making it through entire sentences!!!
Could the clod be on to something?!
Perhaps it is a mixture between what I've done, and the meds he prescribed.

What he did:

• Prescribed Medrol
• Prescribed Darvocet

What I did:

• Worked on improving my posture
• Used heat and vibrating massage on neck and shoulder
• Rested
• Time off work (this is my 3rd day off)

I feel so much better today it is amazing. Doctor, me or both? Opinions?

I worked for a whole year after my TOS symptoms (like yours) started.

By the end, my arm was a BIG, RED CLAW and I couldn't pull up my pantyhose for work (I am an attorney, pro tem judge, not ok to go hoseless), or pull up my skirt zipper, plus I had pain 24 / 7 as they say.

So finally the idiot took me off of work, and then, to my SURPRISE, the swelling and pain went HIGHER and HIGHER until I thought I was going to lose my mind.

So now I have TOS for five years, and during years 2 - 4 I almost lost my mind from pain that was I 'd call a 10+. RSD is a skin type pain and disorder (can go internal also) where I'd feel like I was really in a pizza oven and I should have blisters...unrelenting. I'd sleep every day (try) and the skin would become beet red, the pain climb, and I'd shake with uncontrollable muscle spasms.

I blame this totally on working another year.

I have been to 29 or 30 doctors now. They have no cure for me. Only a few get it - Dr. Annest is one, Dr. Brantigan in Denver, Dr. Larry Miller in Encino (but he is burned out on TOS for me), and frankly, that's it on my search for cures. I've seen top rheumatologists, internists...you name it.

The surgery helped me a bit in certain ways. I am pro-surgery as long as your RSD is not a factor. Mine was, but I TOOk THE RISK and it paid off for me.

You need to check on our list of top docs, let us know your city, and get to a top TOS doc and STOP whatever activity work that is causing your TOS. File for work comp / get a consult if your work in any way possible accelerates, exacerbates this TOS - which I guess it does...

Getting some NEW pain meds and feeling some relief for a few days is NOT A CURE. I've been on oxy contin for over three years now and the pain is back as bad as ever.

You are at a crucial point where you can maybe pull back the TOS a bit, or, it may go hog-wild while you medicate to keep working. I don't know FOR SURE, only you can get a TOS TOP DOC and put the pieces together for you.

I will pray that God gives you guidance.

Most likely a combo of those, and being off work really helps.
Most likely the Dr was just a necessary tool that was able to prescribe the meds for the moment, I don't know that he did much more than that for you.
Seems like he should have done more of some sort of assessment, but some just prefer to rx meds and see if it helps.
Sounds like it helps with the pain and that is good- but for the long term you need a real assessment or evaluation to find whatever the real cause is.
If you want to stick with this dr for now you might ask about a PT referral & evaluation- and see what he says about that?
Oh,
How long are you to be on the meds he rx'd?
If a short term "test" and then a follow up appt to see how you are doing at that point- I suppose that is standard procedure.

here's info on the Medrol-
http://www.drugs.com/mtm/medrol.html

keep up with the posture and things you are doing to heal.

Thanks for bringing me back down to earth. I want so much to get better quickly and easily. The first sign of something better, I grabbed onto like a glimmer of hope. And I still feel that hope, but after reading your responses, I feel it with a lot more scepticism.

I have an appointment with Dr. Thompson who is on the list of recommended specialists, but it is not for another month yet. The Ortho I saw yesterday gave me no information about his plan of action, how long I'd be taking the meds, etc. Though the Medrol is one of those "dose up" blister packs with 6 days worth...on the sixth day I will be taking 6 of them.

The pain meds are 40ct @ 100mg. So far so good.

I guess that my glimmer of hope is a result of the fact that I have no clear cut diagnosis from a professional, and that the Ortho told me it was not TOS. My Chiropractor and the nurse at Dr. Thompson's thinks it is quite possibly TOS...but neither are capable of diagnosing it any more than the a-hole Orthopedist.

On Monday is a Chiropractic appt, and Tuesday brings my EEG/NCS. I have held off on WC until after I get some kind of diagnosis that will reflect the repetitve nature of waitressing caused my symptoms. When med forms as if work related, I leave it blank. Is that a bad choice? I have only been investigating the serious nature of my issue for about a week, off work since Wednesday morning (I work 3rd shift at a Diner)

I'm glad that you got a good nights sleep and I hope the meds continue to relieve your sx's for now.

Did he give you a dx ? What does he think is causing the pain ?

You can't dx TOS, or rule it out, without doing a detailed physical exam.

Just be careful. Like TShadow's story, my sx's got much worse when I followed "doctor's orders" and did activities which aggravated things.

sorry, i didn't mean to pop your bubble
but just want you to know that it may not be a cure for you - unless it is some sort of temporary thing.

I think "playing" dumb while you investigate to find out if it is something that might be claimable is ok. { not a lawyer though}
Plus if you have medical ins you won't have to fight the wc system until you are sure of what you have.

save all your paperwork and bills request drs notes- all that stuff you might need if it becomes WC.
the best thing for wc claim is if Drs can & will strongly tie it to your work/uses.

For me - For years I had RSI & neck/shoulder pains. I kept getting better after each session of PT so they kept sending me back to the same work, each time I'd get re injured and each time it was closer together and more painful - until the neck, shoulder, upper back, hands and arm pains all combined at once- and then I started to find out about TOS.

It took nearly 3 yrs with a good chiro and very good PT people and a lot of "home work"{ stretching, posture, EMS stim, heating pad, trigger point stuff, etc} for me to get to a point where I can do most 'normal" activities. I still have to offset heavy or repetitive uses with extra home care stuff.

That's why we really want anyone to really find out for sure, what is the cause of the pain - before continuing back to a job that may mess them up long term.

No.. no dx yet, as the doctor formerly know as Weis (now Clod) was the one who looked at me for three minutes, then gave the order for an EEG and NCS. He claims to be looking for the problem, but I have little faith in him. I feel like I never should have mentioned my suspicion of TOS to him, because it for w/e reason put him on the defensive.

TY for the well wishes, this whole day has been great. Still holding out at cautiously optomistic that Clod found at least a temporary relief for me while I await the Thompson appt.

Dear Dena,

You don't know me, but quite a few TOSers in So. Cal. know me, and used to come to my house, before we had to move for financial reasons. But, when I got TOS, I was actually a work comp defense attorney (representing the employers and/or insurance co.s, mostly to dig out false claims, but frankly, I'd say 80% were all good claims, just had some red flags. There were some fraud cases, but they were - I mean to be frank here - REALLY fraudulent like someone with supposedly total disability is out there running multiple taco stands in L.A. and going to Mexico to buy the supplies and throwing around huge plats of produce... So I mean, BIG fraud folks, not simply someone caught walking to their mail box...)

But anyways,

my concern and point for you is you mentioned that you were waiting to see what your diagnosis is before pursuing work comp. Firstly, there is a general rule in work comp that unless you had some kind of accident (like a big auto, or dove in the shallow end of a pool - I mean BIG TRAUMA), then you have to consider that the single activity most people do in their lives is their work activities. When you think about it, and add up the hours, our work life totals the most. So judges consider, that unless there is real evidence, reliable evidence, of some other outside occurrence that caused "the injury", and that there was a level of disability, which only the attorney for you can figure out / explain to you, then an argument exists and is pretty much decided by the doctors frankly that the injury occurred due to the job. Or at least a part of it did, and is partially compensable. (There is no partial temporary disability, which may be of importance to you since you have family.) Or, if the injury is something that came up from the person's body, like rheumatoid arthritis, that at least in California, the attorneys and doctors then need to consider whether the person's job exacerbated or accelerated the disease process or the injury itself. Also, things like heart attacks and some other conditions are actually listed in the law as work-related as a "given" "presumption" and can't be fought - so even if the person was / is a chain-smoker, etc., a good attorney can have a 100% case, given the right facts.

So we come back to your situation. I see a history that would lend itself perhaps to some degree of injury - but I don't see anything you really mentioned that can be blamed 100% for your injury because you continued to work - thus proved you were not disabled by whatever you might have had happen as a result of cheering, etc., POSSIBLY, or even most likely, if you have the right facts, the right medical reports and the right attorney!!!

Next, your work is INFAMOUS for causing TOS as the movements are repetitive, the trays are heavy for food, etc. I've deposed so many waitpeople who got repetitive type injuries, and had 100% compensation. This, despite some findings of abnormal spine problems.

BUT, here's the big but - if you wait, and do not get to a proper doctor and have this identified as a work-caused injury, you risk so much. Disability - permanent $ comepensation - as a lump sum or later pension type payments - cannot be had by Social Security or even state disability. Permanent disability amounts are paid to compensate you for the losses that your job movements caused (resulting in injury) which now forbid you from certain jobs or groups of jobs. That is a BIG part of work comp - besides the medical care, future medical care rights, and I have in-home care now, as my TOS progressed. But waiting and leaving the boxes blank may really not protect you from the risk of later being barred from work comp due to delay, or something happening (like a car accident now) that causes a judge or doctors to disbelieve your current injury or extent of injury, etc. I guess I'm basically saying that there are so many risks to the path that you're taking, that I can only urge you - URGE you - to please get at least one free consultation from a work comp attorney in your state and if appropriate be referred to a TOS DOC (take your list of docs) and even try to call some of the attorneys and ask if they've ever handled TOS or other repetitive upper extremity injuries. The states and even areas of a state handle these things differently. This could be the difference between getting temporary disability while you sort out the doctors, OR, having NO income and NO job! You can be fired for non-attendance - possibly.

I can't and am not trying to give you legal advice here.

Just as an internet post, PLEASE do not go forward with your health situation without finding out your rights AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES in regards to having whatever is going on.

I did not get a true diagnosis I think for almost two years!

I have seen 29 doctors!

But I knew on the exact date - because of my training and all of the med reports I've read - that what happened to my right arm, neck, shoulder on that day was related to work, was abnormal, and possibly could lead to further problems.

Did I think that I would only work for one more year and then be bedridden and suffer pain that is utterly horrific? Nope. Not a clue on that one, dear.

In fact, I was still fighting to return to work for a very, very long time when I couldn't manage the usual daily activities of life...it took me a LONG time to accept this illness and my new life.

The first time I read about TOS, I cried! (I am not a crier.) I was SHOCKED.

There is a chance that you could have an ortho shoulder, disc, or something like really bad carpal tunnel - I mean, I can't imagine what you might really have going. BUT, you must get that attorney consult to protect yourself and your kids. Just the things you discussed here, if I were your attorney, I'd have to counsel you on how to present them if asked by a doctor, to avoid problems I could possibly see - but again, I'm not an attorney in your area, and gosh - there are so many risks here.

So I've been pretty sick and not able to post here, but your post has bothered me (concerned me, for you) so much that I had to get back on here and just give you my best.

Back to bed for me...and with all of my heart, I do hope it turns out you don't have TOS, but if you do, at least you know that HERE, you will be believed, and supported and given whatever information we share as friends.

I hope this doesn't sound harsh, as I don't mean it to be at all. I am in so much pain, it's really hard to post. Love meant.

Oh -

also please consider a voice software program where you don't have to type.

Many of us use it here.

I use Dragon "Naturally Speaking" with a headset - it took just one afternoon to learn it and use it just fine. I'm not a techy!

[BUT, here's the big but - if you wait, and do not get to a proper doctor and have this identified as a work-caused injury, you risk so much. Disability - permanent $ comepensation - as a lump sum or later pension type payments - cannot be had by Social Security or even state disability. Permanent disability amounts are paid to compensate you for the losses that your job movements caused (resulting in injury) which now forbid you from certain jobs or groups of jobs. That is a BIG part of work comp - besides the medical care, future medical care rights, and I have in-home care now, as my TOS progressed. But waiting and leaving the boxes blank may really not protect you from the risk of later being barred from work comp due to delay, or something happening (like a car accident now) that causes a judge or doctors to disbelieve your current injury or extent of injury, etc. I guess I'm basically saying that there are so many risks to the path that you're taking, that I can only urge you - URGE you - to please get at least one free consultation from a work comp attorney in your state and if appropriate be referred to a TOS DOC (take your list of docs) and even try to call some of the attorneys and ask if they've ever handled TOS or other repetitive upper extremity injuries. The states and even areas of a state handle these things differently. This could be the difference between getting temporary disability while you sort out the doctors, OR, having NO income and NO job! You can be fired for non-attendance - possibly.

I can't and am not trying to give you legal advice here.

Just as an internet post, PLEASE do not go forward with your health situation without finding out your rights AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES in regards to having whatever is going on.]


I'm glad you posted this Tam - it totally slipped my mind about the free consults!

I agree 100% - ask around/look in the yellow pages- many comp attys have websites and you can email a few questions,
If the office is nearby stop in and scope it out- see if they seem organized and professional at the front desk.
If they aren't busy maybe chat them up to get info on attys experience and cases.

The one i used had a nice new office but I should have noticed that they were very loose and unorganized/unprofessional.
Many are very hard to get in contact with after you sign on the dotted line- so ask about how they will guide you and how best to keep in contact. {only believe half of what they tell you}
Ok, I'm sure there is a few really good ones out there...

I found out at my hearing/settlement that my atty didn't even believe in TOS .

You have to have a Dr/Drs that will write it {TOS- if it is found to be that}and be willing to back up the dx and findings.
It helps to have a atty that has some idea about it too.