John Pollman
Member
- Messages
- 1,338
- Location
- Rochester Hills, MI
Howdy folks!
I haven't been around here much lately. I've had some rather pressing issues to deal with. It's a pretty long and convoluted story but I'll try to just hit the high points. Here's what happened...
I've had "bad knees" for a long time. Had surgery three years ago and the worst one has been better for a while but lately has really flared up and been bothering me a lot. A couple weeks ago I contacted my orthopedic surgeon and set up an appointment for him to check it out. Saw him a week ago Friday and he gave me some fairly good news. He said that he didn't think that surgery was required and that just some PT and strengthening in the leg would help stabilize the joint and help relieve some of the discomfort. But he thinks that something else may be going on and he wanted me to see my internist for a physical. I said OK and made an appointment.
I had a physical last Monday and things seemed to go fairly well but my doctor thought he saw something going on and he wanted me to have an EMG test done. In addition to that, I'd probably have to see a neurologist after that. This is where things took a MAJOR turn for the worse. I had the EMG this past Thursday and he ended up testing a lot more than was prescribed. The test was done by about 9:00 in the morning and he said a few things that had me not really scared but concerned. He said to go home and wait for a call from my internist. I figured maybe by that evening I'd hear something. To my surprise, about 2-1/2 hours later I got a call from his office and was told that the doctor wanted to meet with me in his office ASAP to discuss the results. I said OK and set up an appointment for 8:45 Friday morning. At this point I was getting more concerned with the urgency that the situation seemed to have.
I got to his office Friday morning and he got me right in. He walked into his office with my charts and he pretty much got right to the point. He said that the results of the EMG looked like it was Lou Gherig's Disease (ALS) and if it was, there was not really much that anyone could do. I immediately practically went numb from head to toe! The meeting lasted less than ten minutes and I was told to go home and wait for a call from a neurologist to get some more tests done.
I made my way to my truck and had to spend a few minutes composing myself to even be able to dial my phone to call my wife at work. I got in touch with her and she was pretty shaken too. She said that she was coming home and she would meet me there shortly. We both got there about the same time and waited for the call from the neurologist. In the mean time, I made a couple calls and told my parents what was going on. My step-father said that he would be right over and he was on the way. The call didn't come until 3:00 and the neurologist said that they couldn't see me for THREE WEEKS! Well my step-father intervened and called his neurologist at Beaumont Hospital and was able to get me an appointment for yesterday (Monday). Let me tell you those 3-1/2 days of waiting to see the doctor were the three worst days of my life! I have never been on such an emotional roller coaster.
Well I got to the appointment yesterday and the doctor did a full neurological workup. After he was finished, he told me to get dressed and to meet him back in his office. I got dressed and my wife and I headed to his office to see what he had to say. We sat down and he looked me straight in the eyes and said that he sees nothing that indicates ALS!! There's something going on and he doesn't know what it is yet, but he said that he'd figure it out or get me to someone that can. I've got to go in later this week for an MRI and they drew about EIGHT vials of blood for testing. It will be about a week before the blood work can be finished but at this point I have never been so relieved in my whole life. After what I've been through the past four days, I feel like whatever the new tests reveal they can "bring it on, I can deal with it". This morning I feel like I've gotten my life back!
I've pretty much fired my current internist. I'll not darken his door again. I've been seeing him for at least thirty years and I think he handled the situation VERY poorly. He should have just told me that he saw something abnormal in the results and would like to have a specialist do some more testing to confirm them. There's NO WAY that he should have dropped a bombshell like that on me without having some concrete evidence.
Anyway, thanks for reading. This is going to be a MUCH better week than last week.
Take care all!
John
I haven't been around here much lately. I've had some rather pressing issues to deal with. It's a pretty long and convoluted story but I'll try to just hit the high points. Here's what happened...
I've had "bad knees" for a long time. Had surgery three years ago and the worst one has been better for a while but lately has really flared up and been bothering me a lot. A couple weeks ago I contacted my orthopedic surgeon and set up an appointment for him to check it out. Saw him a week ago Friday and he gave me some fairly good news. He said that he didn't think that surgery was required and that just some PT and strengthening in the leg would help stabilize the joint and help relieve some of the discomfort. But he thinks that something else may be going on and he wanted me to see my internist for a physical. I said OK and made an appointment.
I had a physical last Monday and things seemed to go fairly well but my doctor thought he saw something going on and he wanted me to have an EMG test done. In addition to that, I'd probably have to see a neurologist after that. This is where things took a MAJOR turn for the worse. I had the EMG this past Thursday and he ended up testing a lot more than was prescribed. The test was done by about 9:00 in the morning and he said a few things that had me not really scared but concerned. He said to go home and wait for a call from my internist. I figured maybe by that evening I'd hear something. To my surprise, about 2-1/2 hours later I got a call from his office and was told that the doctor wanted to meet with me in his office ASAP to discuss the results. I said OK and set up an appointment for 8:45 Friday morning. At this point I was getting more concerned with the urgency that the situation seemed to have.
I got to his office Friday morning and he got me right in. He walked into his office with my charts and he pretty much got right to the point. He said that the results of the EMG looked like it was Lou Gherig's Disease (ALS) and if it was, there was not really much that anyone could do. I immediately practically went numb from head to toe! The meeting lasted less than ten minutes and I was told to go home and wait for a call from a neurologist to get some more tests done.
I made my way to my truck and had to spend a few minutes composing myself to even be able to dial my phone to call my wife at work. I got in touch with her and she was pretty shaken too. She said that she was coming home and she would meet me there shortly. We both got there about the same time and waited for the call from the neurologist. In the mean time, I made a couple calls and told my parents what was going on. My step-father said that he would be right over and he was on the way. The call didn't come until 3:00 and the neurologist said that they couldn't see me for THREE WEEKS! Well my step-father intervened and called his neurologist at Beaumont Hospital and was able to get me an appointment for yesterday (Monday). Let me tell you those 3-1/2 days of waiting to see the doctor were the three worst days of my life! I have never been on such an emotional roller coaster.
Well I got to the appointment yesterday and the doctor did a full neurological workup. After he was finished, he told me to get dressed and to meet him back in his office. I got dressed and my wife and I headed to his office to see what he had to say. We sat down and he looked me straight in the eyes and said that he sees nothing that indicates ALS!! There's something going on and he doesn't know what it is yet, but he said that he'd figure it out or get me to someone that can. I've got to go in later this week for an MRI and they drew about EIGHT vials of blood for testing. It will be about a week before the blood work can be finished but at this point I have never been so relieved in my whole life. After what I've been through the past four days, I feel like whatever the new tests reveal they can "bring it on, I can deal with it". This morning I feel like I've gotten my life back!
I've pretty much fired my current internist. I'll not darken his door again. I've been seeing him for at least thirty years and I think he handled the situation VERY poorly. He should have just told me that he saw something abnormal in the results and would like to have a specialist do some more testing to confirm them. There's NO WAY that he should have dropped a bombshell like that on me without having some concrete evidence.
Anyway, thanks for reading. This is going to be a MUCH better week than last week.
Take care all!
John
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