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.
 
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.



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.
Yes surgery was on the left based on the EMG reading from a few years back. They have not tested the right. I would have to do an EMG test which I really am not interested in doing. It certainly feels like lots of mimicking is going on but obviously hard to tell.
 
@Adam Coloretti (coach) what's important to remind myself is that I had zero symptoms in the right arm for years. It's just started to become an issue late this summer and I'm giving all my time and attention to it even as I recover from surgery on the left arm.
 
Back
Top