At work the next day, I encountered a woman who is a physical therapist. Taking a look at my hand and the condition she referred to as “drop wrist,” she encouraged me to go immediately to buy a wrist brace, lest I incur further damage to certain ligaments in my arm.
My doctor’s office had accepted my request for an appointment, offset by several days. Sensing my friends’ and co-workers’ concern about my useless hand, I called and stressed that my need for an office visit was more urgent than I had let on, and they agreed to work me in that day.
This doctor, my primary care physician, was the first to put me through the paces that I have since come recognize as observational exams for neurological disorders. I tapped my fingers to my thumb. I walked down his office corridor and back. He checked my reflexes. I stretched both arms open and then touched my nose.
Physical Therapy was prescribed, and, for weeks, I went for the therapy and did the recommended exercises. I regained some use of my hand, and the wrist was no longer dropped, but the therapy was ongoing.
One day, the physical therapist working with me had, in the course of my treatment, manipulated my head to the point that I heard a “snap” in my neck. “Ow!” I yelped. “Did you hear that?” And he said, “Yes. It was supposed to pop.” Then he added, a little less audibly, “But it wasn’t supposed to hurt.”
In the days and weeks (and for a few years) that followed, I wore the brace on my wrist and I was never quite the same again. The doctor had concluded that I had “a crushed ulnar nerve” – the result of having fallen asleep on the arm. I remember now, that, at each check-up, he repeated the tests, and then repeated his diagnosis. Looking back, I also remember hearing “too young for Parkinson’s” – which, of course, I was – so the words barely registered with me at the time and did not concern me in the least.
As time passed, my hand improved enough for me to function, but everything I did required extra effort and took inordinate amounts of time. My neck continued to hurt whenever I turned my head.
I tried acupuncture which offered some relief (but kind of creeped me out). I visited a chiropractor who informed me that the physical therapist’s manipulation of my head had been an ILLEGAL procedure. He suggested tests (MRI / C scan) that my insurance wouldn’t cover under chiropractic care, and my MD refused to order. “It’s just a crushed nerve, Shannon,” he repeated. “It’s not going to get better. But it isn’t going to get worse, either.”
Well…at least he was right about the first part.
