PORCH PONDERINGS

Test Results

So - here's the thing. I went and got the nerve test - the EMG. Nothing like lying on a table and getting shocked intentionally for over half an hour. Sometimes my arm jumped off the table, sometimes it just tingled. And lots of times it just hurt. Like sticking your finger in an electrical socket over and over. Then there was this test where thin needles, I took his word for it, I didn't check, were inserted into nerve pathways. You could hear a sound - the doctor explained that was the electrical impulse from the nerve. Then I had to engage a muscle. You could hear the nerve get louder. This part didn't hurt. Thank goodness.

The result? Surprising. I was told I have moderate carpal tunnel syndrome. Seems the myelin sheath of the median nerve, the nerve that controls your thumb and fingers is compressed. It would explain all the pain I've been having. It needs to be decompressed before it advances to the severe phase where the actual nerve that is inside that myelin sheath is damaged. Once that happens, you're pretty much in serious, if not irreparable trouble. But, I thought, how did that happen? I didn't have that problem before I broke my hand. Such a mystery.

Great. Surgery. Again. I swear. And now we hear that the car that is still in VA getting fixed up since May of last year has a new hiccup. So, the finish date is once again pushed back. I am so mad about this, you just cannot understand.

But I am writing for the local paper, got my second check today. Hurray for that! And I applied for a job with the county - secretary/treasurer for the refuse district. 15-20 hours a month. I think can do that. Extra money is good. I am going to quit doing the church bulletin. Already had decided that when this opportunity arose. I easily spend that much time doing that chore per month, and am not paid.

I guess the old adage is true - 'Nothing is constant but change'. These past few years have been the worst for me. I pray for a more quiet period to soon start.