Back in March, I had seen a neurologist in one health system. The entire department left and I got a referral to the department in the other system. Unfortunately, my initial appointment wasn’t scheduled until the end of August.
I woke up Monday morning at 8 am to a call from neurology, though, to offer me an appointment at 8:30. I got up, took meds while on the phone, and sped over to the clinic. My primary doctor only referred me for my migraines, leaving out the weird neurological stuff I’ve been dealing with all year.
I made sure to share what was going on, though, on the off chance he would be as concerned as I was. And it paid off.
We honestly didn’t talk very much about my migraines. I wish we had a treatment plan there, but I also understand that my symptoms would be more alarming. Doc ordered an EMG to test my nerves for the end of August. I also have another MRI on the 11th to check the rest of my spine.
I didn’t even need to bring it up, but doc was upset that this hadn’t been done before. He might’ve been more worried than I was, which was a nice change. Various illnesses and nerve problems can be found further down the spine and not always sit in the head and neck… including MS which keeps popping up as a potential.
We will see what the MRI shows and go from there. Since the EMG is done by the neurologist himself, that will be a follow-up appointment with him and I can bring up a treatment plan for the migraines.
These are all tests I asked my previous neurologist for before he left, and there just wasn’t time or he didn’t think these were necessary. It was so validating to have someone new share my concerns without me even having to state them. I’m really grateful that I was able to get in early and get things moving more towards a differential diagnosis.
For now, though, I’m off to D.C. to present on chronic pain and sex!