bluesboy63
Well known member
Today we are to write about disheartening diagnosis. I actually have two that I am almost certain were tied to TMS. The first was at the age of 5 when I lost the hearing in my right ear. I was going through the most difficult time in my life to that point as my parents had just announced a divorce. I remember talking to my grandmother on the phone, my extremely religious grandmother that never really liked me because I was born out of wedlock. Suddenly, I couldn't hear her any more. Being a health anxious child already (unknowingly to me), I hid it from everyone for about 3 years till they caught it during a hearing test at school. I figured I'd be dead by then since the only thing I knew about hearing loss was that my mom had a cancer in her ear when she was a child and could never, under any circumstances get water in her ear or, from what I remember, she would die (remember, I was only 5 years old.) Talk about PTSD right? Anyway, I went to the ear doctor only to be told that there was nothing wrong with my ear, however I was diagnosed with nerve deafness. Now I know that TMS isn't supposed to cause permanent damage but is it possible that the nerve was cut off from proper oxygen levels for so long, unchecked, that it ended up killing the nerve off completely? I'm still deaf to this day in that ear and have nearly zero balance function in it. An easy target for TMS to hit me with since one of my biggest symptoms is vertigo and balance issues.
The second diagnosis which I had no idea was tied to TMS is thoracic outlet syndrome. One day I cme home from work and my arm was swollen like I had just left an intense arm workout, which I hadn't. I went to the emergency room after a few hours and was told to see a vascular surgeon who diagnosed me with thoracic outlet syndrome which is a blockage of blood flow near the clavicle and first rib. The fix was to have my first rib removed, thus freeing up the blockage. Three days later I was in surgery at which point they damaged my long thoracic nerve while removing the rib. Long story short (I know, there's never anything short about my stories), the entire inside of my left arm is now partially numb. Not a great thing for a life long musician but I've worked through it.
Thank you for listening to what was supposed to be a very short entry...
The second diagnosis which I had no idea was tied to TMS is thoracic outlet syndrome. One day I cme home from work and my arm was swollen like I had just left an intense arm workout, which I hadn't. I went to the emergency room after a few hours and was told to see a vascular surgeon who diagnosed me with thoracic outlet syndrome which is a blockage of blood flow near the clavicle and first rib. The fix was to have my first rib removed, thus freeing up the blockage. Three days later I was in surgery at which point they damaged my long thoracic nerve while removing the rib. Long story short (I know, there's never anything short about my stories), the entire inside of my left arm is now partially numb. Not a great thing for a life long musician but I've worked through it.
Thank you for listening to what was supposed to be a very short entry...
