Parsonage Turner Syndrom...of course!

Some of you may remember a blog entry from last January when I described the experience of waking up one morning with the most severe pain times 100 I have ever felt in in my life. Unbearable shooting pain shot from my neck to my elbow for about a week with no relief. I was on the strongest pain medication and that only put a dent in eliviating the complete agony I was in. What added to my frustration was the fact that in that first week and a half I visited 4 doctors ( 2 chiropractors, and 2 MDs) who were clueless as to what was causing the pain.
After about 10 days all of the pain finally subsided, but I was left with total numbness and loss of muscle ability in my right shoulder. And while I was overjoyed to be free from this pain, I was stuck now with a gimp arm.

Well it is now June...5 months after this incident happened and finally I was able to get an answer as to what the heck happened to me. After switching insurances, being checked out by my regular physician, he recommended I do 6 weeks of physical therapy to see if that helped and before recommending me to an orthopedic surgeon. After 6 weeks of therapy I was no better than at the start, so I was referred to a shoulder specialist. 2 hours in the waiting room and a $20 co-pay later the shoulder specialist informed me he couldn't diagnose me and that I probably needed to see a neck specialist. Before seeing the neck specialist I had an MRI done and then took off work yet again to visit the doc for the results. The wait was a little better for this doctor, but again after a $20 co-pay and another visit to the doc, I was told the MRI showed nothing and she was baffled as to what it could be. At this point a pinched nerver was ruled out, b/c it would have shown up on the MRI, and apparently no one knew what else it could be.

I was recommended by the neck specialist to go see a nerve specialist. And it was at the nerve specialist that I FINALLY got an answer. After preforming a series of tests he explained the reason no one could dignose this and the reason it wasn't detected in any tests run was b/c it was a virus that attacked a nerve in my shoulder. Parsonage Turner Syndrom to be exact. Here is the def of the virus-
(PTS) is a rare syndrome of unknown cause, affecting mainly the lower motor neurons of the brachial plexus. The brachial plexus is a group of nerves that conduct signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm, and hand. PTS is usually characterized by the sudden onset of severe one-sided shoulder pain, followed by paralysis of the shoulder and lack of muscle control in the arm, wrist, or hand several days later. The syndrome can vary greatly in presentation and nerve involvement.. Within hours or days, the condition progresses to include weakness, muscle atrophy, and may even include paralysis of the affected area. Although individuals with the condition may experience paralysis of the affected areas for months or, in some cases, years, recovery is usually eventually complete.

So there we go...CASE CLOSED!! And fortunately, the doctor said as my nerves recover the muscles strength will start to come back on its own. How wonderful it is, after visiting 11 doctors and shelling out about $300 in office visit co-pay, to finally know what happened and to finally be reasurred that all will be back to normal soon enough. =)