| Last Updated July 13, 2004 |
My TOS :
I so stoked to find that other ppl are as lost as I am. I was diagnosed with having TOS about 3 months ago. I haven't been to see the vascular surgeon yet, but I'm scheduled to go in at the end of July. I've had pain in my left arm for as long as I can remember. I've never had any severe injuries that I can recall, so I'm not sure where my issue came from. The road to being diagnosed took about 3 years and 11 doctors. I'm by no means a whiner. I've delivered a child with no medication and given myself stitches before. I'm certainly not a hypocondriac. I have to pass out before I go to the emergency room. :-) However, what started as my "it's going to rain today" pain that started in my shoulder and ran down the length of my arm to my pinky and ring finger peaked when I was picking up my 2 year old and almost dropped him. That's when I got serious about finding a diagnoses. I'm glad I finally found Dr. Chang. She's awesome and the ONLY doctor that believed my pain and gave it a name. I have NO idea what's going to happen when I go and see the surgeon. From reading a lot of the stories here, I'm almost positive he's going to tell me physical therapy. From what I've read, I'm sure that's only a temporary fix. She did an x-ray and determined that the cause of my TOS was scoliosis. I thought that was ironic considering she said I've probably had it for years and I was in the military in 1999 and they didn't catch it. Lately, I've developed a new shooting pain from my shoulder (left) up my neck. I think this is a result of TOS. Maybe...maybe not. I have to go back to Dr. Chang on Friday to find out. I've had one set of x-rays done. No MRI. No EEG. Nothing else. I'm hoping that someone will read this boring entry and write back to me. I don't know what questions to ask and Dr. Chang with give me the tests I ask for. Should I request an MRI? What about a nervous system profile or something? (I dont' know what that's called) Anyway, if anyone has any information or suggestions, please email them to me. I'll give an update when I find out more.
Yee Chang, Internal Medicine Providian