Friday, February 22, 2008

My Introduction to MS

In the early 80’s, my knee went numb. How strange. I still had control over its movement, it was strong enough to hold my weight, but it was numb. That wasn’t right. My doctor sent me to a neurologist who scheduled a test, an EMG.

I wasn’t familiar with EMG then. Even now I don't know much about it. But I knew EKG because my son was born with a hole in his heart and had EKG’s as part of his checkup routine. No problem there. I sat in the waiting room, listening to a child scream. I hadn’t realized what a trooper David was, because he never even complained, much less screamed. Then it was my turn.

2 comments:

Synchronicity said...

oh my...may i ask...what is an EMG?

Vicki said...

Sorry. I should have included this. An EMG is an electromyography. Needles are inserted into the muscle, electricity is added, and the test checks the muscle function. I think it measures the time it takes the current to move from one point to the other.

As I understand it, it tells the doc about conductivity or electrical activity in the muscles at various points of tension.

It hurts, but is not unbearable unless you are a small child who doesn't understand.