Day 10 Day 10 - Doubts

jarditti

Newcomer
Hello!

I am on Day 10 of the program. Here is my backstory.

- Nerve pain in left elbow (minimally in right elbow also) in 2021
- pain seemed to go away with a Cortizone shot
- pain resurfaced this year in left elbow almost immediately after an extremely stressful few months of my life
- talked into getting surgery, currently recovering three weeks out.
- mild symptoms in Right Elbow have increased this summer and in weeks before/after surgery of Left Elbow

TMS Profile (I fit it perfectly)
- Type A / High Strung / People Pleaser / High Performer / (Realizing extent of self-criticism, comparison)
- Major stress events this year (brother manic episode, construction project on house during paternity leave, first baby, new job, MBA school)
- Even when elbow pain was not here last few years, constant (every minute) popping of neck/shoulder, ticks.

Day 10 Doubts
I found out about TMS the week before going into my surgery...I stopped thinking/reading about TMS because it felt like a distraction/unhealthy to consider right before the surgery. My doctor was acting on two things:

- EMG test from 2021 that indicated nerve blockage at the cubital tunnel
- Me talking about my constant pain over last 3 months

So you can see how this is a confusing time for me. I obviously hope the surgery went well and want to recover from the atrophy/healing required from an actual surgery. What looms in my head is the doctor's post-op report citing that my nerve was a little loose, and that they fixed it.

What has continued to dominate my mental headspace is the ever-increasing symptoms in my right arm now. (Sarno would say my mind is just diverting pain to the right arm now as a distraction). I can note the conditioned responses (brushing teeth, bottle-feeding daughter, etc).

So this is my overall hesitation with the program - Doctor acknowledging a "structural" issue. I'm having a hard time getting this out of my head.
 
One additional challenge - I can't exactly "resume normal activity" (sports, guitar, picking up daughter, etc) because of the actual surgery recovery. So haven't been able to follow TMS protocol perfectly.
 
- EMG test from 2021 that indicated nerve blockage at the cubital tunnel

Hi! I assume this was for the left elbow, did they test the right also? I thought they might given you had mild symptoms in the right before that time too it seems.

What looms in my head is the doctor's post-op report citing that my nerve was a little loose, and that they fixed it.

I'm glad they did! That doesn't necessarily mean that's what is going on in the right - it very well could just be brain mimicking on the other side based on what was going on in your left.
 
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