A Visit to the Doctor

No ride today. Too many things to do in the afternoon, and I woke up feeling like someone had mugged my brain overnight.

I hurt my lower back in September 2006 when I tried to move a couch by myself. This involved an 8-hour emergency room visit, some pain meds and whopping doses of ibuprofen. I was told to watch out for numbness in either leg and to go to the doctor if it occurred. When I was able to stand again, my left leg was numb from the knee down. I went to an Urgent Care facility, but I don't recall much other than we were satisfied it was a nerve deficit rather than a circulation deficit. I hadn't established a primary care physician yet, so I was probably told to follow up on the whole situation with my new doctor. Then followed weeks of learning to walk with a leg with little to no nerve feedback. I had to watch where my foot was placed to confirm that I was standing on it and that it would hold my weight. Sensation gradually returned to my lower left leg, but I continued to have nerve deficit from the knee to mid-shin.

For no good reason, I failed to follow up on x-rays and an orthopedic consult in late 2007, so when I called my doctor's office to see if I could still get that done, I was told I needed to come in for a recheck. So, it was good news when they called yesterday and said they could fit me in this afternoon.

The upshot of today's visit is that I need to have lower back/knee x-rays done as well as a nerve conduction test at sports medicine to help rule out the cause of the neuropathy in my left leg. The unpleasant surprise was that my blood sugar had been well above normal when I had lab work done back in February. Either I did not get the letter about the results, or I got it and did not follow up. No matter, now I get to do a glucose fast in addition to the x-rays.

Oh, yes. Happy birthday, mom!