Neuro News

I finally received in the mail today approval for a visit to the movement disorder specialist at Rush.  Yay!  I called to make the appointment and was told they needed a consultation request from my doctor.  Booo!

Fortunately, today was my follow-up with my neurologist.  So there is news:
There is a new spot on my brain.  Today was the first day I actually got to see the blasted report and images (the douchetastic duo weren't exactly good about that) without having to crane awkwardly or get pushy .  This new one is on the left toward the front.  Just a little dark spot.  There's a similar one on the right that's been there a while.  Could be from migraines, could be something else.
Cervical spine shows a bit of wear and tear, but nothing terribly out of the ordinary.
With this in mind, we may do a repeat spinal tap in a couple of months to check for signs of MS again.  I am absolutely thrilled by this prospect.
Actually, my current neurologist has a soul and basic human compassion and has already assured me she will give me meds as needed and be sure they use a very small diameter needle this time so hopefully we won't have a repeat of the 12-day long spinal headache, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, crying jags and nightmares.  You know, after I was told a spinal tap was "nothing.  You'll be back up and around the next day, no problem.  Just take some Tylenol and it will be fine."  And then, when we called and told them about spinal headache, etc., etc., "oh, well, just come by the clinic on Monday and we'll try to fit you in."  Because being upright and waiting in a waiting room is such a fun prospect when being prone is pretty much the only way to keep from puking from the spinal headache.  I was totally going to just toddle on over to the medical center.  No need to send me to the ER for a blood patch or meds for the excruciating pain or anything.  (Yeah, still ever so slightly bitter about that.  Jerks.)
In the meantime, she is going to get in touch with the guy at Rush and see what he has to say, try to get me in to see him and we'll all decide whether to do the spinal tap or not.

Also, I'm about ready to mutiny the next time they want me to do the heel-toe balance walk.  It sucks, I can't do it, I weave all over and almost fall and very nearly strain muscles trying to keep from falling.  Kind of tired of it.

Jinx

I had another MRI today.  I think this is my 4th time.  Head and cervical spine with and without contrast this time.

In the past, I've been all braggy-pants about getting through them quickly because I hold still fairly well.  Clearly, I have jinxed myself because today I was twitchy as hell.  We had to repeat several passes because my neck kept jerking.  This was INCREDIBLY annoying.  I'm used to compensating for my involuntary movements.  I have a variety of strategies to do so including:

• Swearing
• Tensing the muscles in question, which works for a brief period but often results in more movement when I finally relax or sometimes sort of shifts the movement elsewhere.  This works best with my hands for short periods of time for fine work and sometimes with my trunk when I'm having major issues through my trunk and pelvis.  Key term here is "short periods."
• Swearing some more.
• Relaxing.
• Holding my breath, which is okay for things like blood draws on super-twitchy days, but isn't exactly a useful strategy for more than about a minute.
• Moving with the movement.  Obviously not good for holding still, but does sometime help with discomfort.
• Swearing yet more.
• Distracting myself.  I'm not entirely sure whether this actually reduces the movements or if I just stop paying attention to them.  I tried this in the MRI and I'm not sure it helped.

Anyway, my neck and shoulders still ache like hell from lying on my back with no head/neck support for 2 hours along with alternately tensing and relaxing trying to keep still.  Grrr.  I'll ask next time I have one ordered if it's worth getting the sedative/anti-anxiety med they offer to claustrophobics to see if that will cut the muscle twitches/tremor.

I had noticed an increase in tremors lately in my head and neck - sort of nodding or shaking, but very slight but hadn't realized quite how pronounced it could be until I had to try to hold still.  My legs and lower back were going too, but that wasn't as noticeable or as big a deal.  

I had them put the IV in while I was lying down today.  This time the nurse just came into the MRI suite to do it and was very nice about it.  As she noted, she'd much rather walk down the hallway to put it in than have me pass out in her chair in the prep room.  I didn't feel anything with the contrast injection this time, which is a first - I usually feel either a warm flush or a cool rush.  

Still waiting to hear back from the insurance company about seeing the fancy-pants guy at Rush.  (I should maybe stop calling him "the fancy-pants guy" but whatever.)  Giving them until early next week before I start nagging.