Surgery done 3 years ago coming back to haunt me. Please help.

Hi everyone,

To quickly introduce myself: I am 29 years old and live in Dubai.

I am so incredibly grateful to have found this forum! To be frank, I learned about TMS a few days ago and have started to wonder if everything that I am experiencing could be related to mind-body syndrome?

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. A bit of a back story: A few years ago, I had a nagging pain in my shoulder that just wouldn't go away. I became obsessed with the pain and how it was interfering in my life - I couldn't go the gym, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't work. It robbed me of everything I enjoyed doing and I hated it.

I had 4 MRI's in the span of 3 months and saw a combined 10 orthopedic surgeons, shoulder specialists, and physiotherapists. In Dubai, healthcare is privatized and employers are legally obliged to provide all employees with health insurance. I could schedule an MRI in a day and see several different doctors in a matter of hours. This didn't help - I got all sorts of different opinions and recommendations and I was seemingly unhappy with all of them.

I became depressed. I was anxious. It was only after I was mentally and physically drained and gave up, that the pain started to disappear.

However, my current situation is a little different - In 2016, I had a benign lump removed from my left breast. Yes, that's right - I'm a male. After the surgery, there was a patch of numbness in my chest which I was told was normal after a procedure like this and feeling would regain after a year.

So the feelings never came back and the numbness remains to this day. Now, it's never really bothered me - in fact, I hardly ever noticed it honestly. Never hurt or anything and I would notice it sometimes if I was in the shower but again, never paid attention to it. I went to a Neurologist at one point who said that a superficial nerve was severed during the surgery but it wouldn't have a significant impact - just the numbness. No pain, weakness, tingling, etc.

However, in the last few days, it's all I can think about it. I'm starting to feel all sorts of pressure/tingling/increased numbness. It's like I'm hyper-focused - I don't understand where this has come from? I was obviously okay with it for years - so why now?

I'm sorry - this is a lot. Apologies if I this seems like a ramble.

 

Hi there. Yes this does sound very much like TMS to latch on to a sensation like that. And it's an indication that you probably have some unaddressed emotions/stresses that are starting to come up to the surface, so it's demanding even more of your focus and found an easy target in that numb feeling. It's the same process as your shoulder pain from before: a distraction from deeper issues in your life. It's probably good that you reached an exhaustion point with the shoulder though, I think it shows that you know how to turn it off when it gets to be too much. Before I even knew about TMS, all the drama from the pain and how I seemed to be otherwise normal would hit a wall of just not being believable anymore and then it would cease -- for a while... Finding out about Dr. John Sarno and getting one of his books really pulled it together though and creates a real path to recovery. There are tremendous resources on this site as well. Good luck!

 

Thanks so much Nick.

I was just wondering how I can stop obsessively thinking about the feeling? I am constantly checking / googling symptoms and am considering seeing another one or ten neurologists. This probably will do nothing but reinforce everything. Where would you recommend that I start?

 

You said this started less than a week ago, what was happening in your life last week?

 

Hey Joe,

I would be wiling to chat with you and help guide you towards becoming pain free. I have been helping people do the same since I healed my chronic pain. Message me if you are interested. If not I wish you well and hope for the best.

Justin.