Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2006. Mattie was in our living room and doing what he does best.... constructing!!! Mattie designed this labyrinth and within it he placed himself. The many antics of Mattie, and rest assured he always brought me into his play schemes.
Quote of the day: Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~ Leo Buscaglia
I LOVE this Buscaglia quote. It is SO true!!! I had what I would call an unpleasant test today..... it was called an EMG, or Electromyography. I was administered this test because of the tingling, muscle weakness, and numbness in my left arm and leg. An issue that I have had for over three weeks. Thankfully my neurology office prepared me for this test and my dear friend Mary Ann warned me. Because you really shouldn't go into this test COLD without mental preparation. Why? Well the first 45 minutes of the test involves receiving electrical shocks up and down your arms and legs and then the next 45 minutes includes needles placed into your muscles to record activity. It isn't exactly comfortable.
Electromyography
(EMG) is a diagnostic procedure to assess the health of muscles and the nerve
cells that control them (motor neurons). Motor neurons transmit electrical signals that cause muscles
to contract. An EMG translates these signals into graphs, sounds or numerical
values that a specialist interprets. An EMG uses tiny devices called electrodes
to transmit or detect electrical signals. During a needle EMG, a needle
electrode inserted directly into a muscle records the electrical activity in
that muscle. A nerve conduction study, another part of an EMG, uses electrodes
taped to the skin (surface electrodes) to measure the speed and strength of
signals traveling between two or more points. EMG results can reveal nerve
dysfunction, muscle dysfunction or problems with nerve-to-muscle signal
transmission.
Overall these two tests could have been a nightmare. But they weren't. They weren't because of the two people who administered them. The nerve conduction study, with the electrodes was administered by a tech. She was fantastic and explained everything she was doing before doing it. She even prepared me for what an electrical shock would feel like, and she was accurate. The second part of the test with the needle placements was done by a neurologist. Not my neurologist, but his colleague. Dr. Cohen was an absolute peach. A true extrovert..... bright, a good listener, and communicator. We hit it off immediately. Being in a room for 45 minutes getting needles stuck in you isn't great, but he chatted with me the whole time. He first asked what I do. So I told him that I once was an educator but now I run a childhood cancer nonprofit. He could have let it go at that, but he didn't. He asked me why I decided to do that, and I told him about Mattie. I then discussed with him a word most doctors flinch at.... psychosocial care and how this is our mission. He then told me that psychosocial support is crucial in the medical field and that data shows that the medicine is more effective when you care for the whole person. I almost fell off the table. He is a rare breed, but based on how he was talking, I suspected he helped a family member with cancer. So I asked!!!
I was correct, both of his parents are cancer survivors and he explained to me how this impacted his life. So he said he couldn't imagine how losing Mattie affected me. He later shared his own physical health issue with me and how this impacted his life and how it makes him a better doctor. I CAN SEE that, because I want to clone him! But what he said to me next resonated with me and it has stuck with me the whole day. He said that he always worries about getting profoundly ill! This man was speaking my language, because I have the same fear and anxiety. So we talked about that today. He didn't make me feel crazy in any sense, but normalized my feelings. I need more medical professionals in my life that get that I am a bi-product of trauma and as such when I get ill, and the illness is prolonged I developed an inordinate amount of anxiety. I felt heard, understood, and for me NORMAL today. It turned my mind set around.
I am happy to report that these tests are normal and I have no nerve or muscle damage, so we can take those issues off the table. I still may have other symptoms, and the tests weren't pleasant, but it does go to show you that how physicians make you feel can truly impact our medical health.
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