Needles and Electrocution
Just got back from my EMG test. That was not a very fun experience. The test consists of two parts. Part one involved zapping you in various places, causing your muscles to twitch (sometimes kindof painfully, depending on the muscle) so they can measure the response time. The second part involves jamming needles into various parts of you, in my case 3 in the back, two in the back of the leg, and one in the front, for some reason I haven’t quite figured out yet. At any rate, it’s not pleasant. At least I couldn’t see the needles going into by lower back. According to Delia they went in about an inch.
Anyway, the test showed that I have some nerve damage, and apparently some of it’s new and some of it’s old, so my back condition has probably been around for a while. Other than that, it just narrowed it down to the same disc that we already knew was the problem, thanks to the (painless!) MRI earlier in the month.
Oh, and yesterday I met with an orthopedic spine surgeon, who looked at my MRI and Xrays and said I basically have three options. I can do nothing, and hope it just fixes itself. I can do physical therapy, which should help it heal itself faster. And thirdly, I can go in for surgery and they’ll remove the part of the disc that sticking out, which should fix everything. Since it seems to be getting better on it’s own, I decided to go with option two. I’ll be starting physical therapy next Monday, and meeting back with the surgeon next month. I figure if I make good progress, then everything’s good. If it’s not going well, I can opt for the surgery.
So that’s pretty much it. I’m kindof ouchy at the moment, and I keep getting little pricky pains where the needles were. It’s annoying. I’m glad Delia was with me though, so I could crush her hand when the doc shoved the needles in. Thank you, dear. 
I got about 2/3 of the way through the electocution portion of the test. I would rather them clobber me with a sledgehammer than finish the procedure. So after punching my fist through their wall, I left the procedure. My lawyer and Dr’s are furious with me. I told them they were Nazi’s mistaking me for a jew in a containment camp. If I lose my court case and forfiet thousands of dollars, I’ll be upset, but no one should endure so much pain while already suffering. They should have designed a better testing procedure by now.