'Early Disc Degeneration' is back!!!

so... now e neurologist says that it is definitely early disc degeneration... b4 i describe e happenings of yesterdae, lemme define e process i went thro yesterdae at SGH... todae's post is gona b v long, but hang in there as u walk thro e journey of discovery wif me... =)

NERVE TESTING (extracted from Total Spine Specialists)
Introduction
A nerve in the body works somewhat like an electrical wire in your house. If you want to see if the wire is functioning properly, you need to make sure that electricity can run through it. If there are any problems along its length, you will know it by a failure of the electrical current to go through.
Similar to testing current flow in a wire, nerve conduction velocity test (NCV) is an electrical test, ordered by your doctor, used to detect abnormal nerve conditions. It is usually ordered to diagnose or evaluate a nerve injury in a person who has weakness or numbness in the arms or legs. It also helps to discover how severe the condition is and how a nerve is responding to injury or to treatment. In this test, electrical signals are sent down specific nerves of the arms or legs, where an electrode placed on the skin detects the electrical impulse ‘down stream’ from the first. The nerve is stimulated with a tiny electrical current at one point. A nerve stimulator placed over the nerve supplies the nerve with a very mild electrical impulse. This electrical activity is recorded by the recording skin electrode. When this happens, you will feel a tingling sensation that may or may not be uncomfortable. Between the brief shocks you will not feel discomfort. The distance between the skin electrodes and the time it takes for electrical impulses to travel between electrodes is used to calculate the speed of the nerve signal. A decreased speed suggests nerve disease. A healthy nerve will transmit the signal faster and stronger than a sick nerve.

How long does the NCV test take to complete?
Usually NCV testing takes less than 30 minutes depending on the number of nerves tested. Is the NCV test safe? The small amount of current delivered to the nerve is always at a very safe level. Patients wearing pacemakers or other electrical devices need not worry since this current will rarely interfere with such devices.

How uncomfortable is the NCV test?
The electrical stimulation may be mildly uncomfortable but this is usually very brief when testing is done by an experienced physician. Most of our patients comment that the test was far easier to complete than they were told or expected.

this is e 2nd time in 7 years dat i m researchin in detail abt my ailment... n e 1st time dat i m reali tryin my best to understand wats wrong wif me... all thanks to e neurologist, Dr Loh... he was e onli doc out of e 5 specialists dat i haf seen dat was genuinely interested in my prob... e others didnt seem to believe dat i was sufferrin... n didnt seem to believe dat this pain is reali unbearable fer me... to em, if i m not wheeled into A&E, i m not sufferin... so they made me feel dat i was 1) sufferin from mental disease - dat there is actually nothin wrong wif me, its all my evil twin makin me feel weaker than i actually m; or 2) sufferin from a back prob but its actually v mild but i wana gain sympathy from e world so i m creatin this whole story so dat pple will give me special treatment...

actually one of e specialists did think dat i was havin early disc degeneration... he was e one dat convinced me, after my previous docs... cos he was quite amazed at my reactions when he did some tests on my fingers n stuff... so amazed dat he called 2 of his understudies to come over n watch as he did a few of e tests on me... as if his textbook suddenly came to life... kekeke... it was v interestin how amazed they were, watchin e results played live in front of em... same amazed face on Dr Loh yesterdae... =P

to understand y i sae Dr Loh was genuinely interested in my case, lemme describe wat happened at e test yesterdae...

first part of e nerve testin done on my arms was conducted by an assistant... this nice lady in her 40s... i had no idea its abt electric shocks cos i tot its juz some scan thing, so didnt do my research b4hand... n as u read from my post of e specialist who referred me to this department, he was super unhelpful, n naturally didnt bother to tell me dat its abt electric shocks...

when i stepped into e room, e neurologist looked out from his room n gave me a look dat i was so familiar wif... e distrustin n disbelievin n cold stare... a stare which was e same as my previous doc... my heart sank to e bottom... do u think dat i wana haf this prob? do u think dat i wana waste my time to come all e wae here to do this dumb test? y in e world do u think i m fakin this???

e neurologist asked e assistant a series of questions... cos i was so hurt by his stare, i could onli hear his accusations n not e response of e assistant... y is she here? wat test is she doin? so young! *sigh* i felt like goin home at dat second, but i was too sian to move n too disheartened to think anymore... so when e assistant asked me to remove my watch, i juz obeyed n followed her instructions...

e assistant asked me to lie down n started clickin on e pc beside e bed... there was a machine wif many wires n electrodes... i started to get wary... then she started pastin e electrodes on me n wrappin my finger wif 2 bare wires then coatin em wif a conductor fluid... i started to get scared... she said this process is to pass some electric shocks thro me n i got real scared... i asked her if its painful but she said its bearable... (ya rite, haf u tried it?) but i figured, if most pple who come here r old pple n they can take it, y cant i? so i fixed my eyes on everythin dat she was doin n convinced myself dat everythin is in control...

long story short... wah seh it was quite shockin at times man! 2nd test conducted by e neurologist... he walked out n asked me if i feel weakness aso, other than e numbness, n asked abt my condition. then he said 'u r still schooling rite?' then e assistant laughed n said 'no la, she's alreadi 25!' then he asked wats my job n if my family has such condition. then e assistant pasted electrodes on my foot n he took a large black thing n sent an electric shock thro my head!!! wah seh it was scary sia... n it was a series of shocks so dat they can tabulate e various results...

turning point... e neurologist got quite concerned n commented dat e reading was too small... e assistant was aso curious y e number never got above 3.4 fer a particular test... then e neurologist tested somewhere else n e readin was 10+... e assistant asked if he was expecting a 4 n he said, 'at least 3.5 but juz cannot ah'... then he looked at me n exclaimed 'this is real!!!!!!' there was silence fer 2 secs then i said 'errr u tot i was fakin it???' then e 3 of us burst out laughin n they both jumped to defend emselves but i added 'i understand, maybe u tot dat this is not e rite diagnosis'... then e neurologist... who is actually Dr Loh, said 'yes! u r so young! this is definitely early disc degeneration!' then a barrage of questions abt my condition, how did it start, my family history etc... so many questions like a rifle sia... dat i was taken aback... 'ur condition is reali chronic man!!! u haf had this for many years alreadi rite?' a tinge of bewilderment in his eyes... together wif a sense of wow-ness abt a textbook case sittin in front of him...

a test for u: try bendin ur rite wrist so dat ur rite hand touches ur arm. use ur left thumb to press ur rite thumb towards ur arm. mine almost touches. can urs??? u can do on e left arm too... apparently most pple's thumbs r still far from their arm... Dr Loh said dat they shd call back those who r hafin similar ailments to me n do a case study on all of us... cos we haf loose joints, thus my neck joint is loose, thus e discs will b displaced easily wif e slightest trauma n press on e spinal cord...

he rattled on wif explanations y this is a major concern... cos e affected part is my neck n e disc is pressin on my spinal cord, which is v serious... i couldnt reali understand n asked if its like a slipped disc... 'aiyah aso can sae slipped disc but not reali la' then he explained more n more but i was lost... then he excitedly said he wanted to see my MRIs so he can further diagnose... but too bad i dun haf my MRIs... e next time i bring it to him, will further update u all on more of wat i m sufferin from... =)

if u r still arnd, thanks fer ur concern fer me... so much so to read all e wae to e end... thanks fer ur prayers/support/concern... reali appreciate this... will continue to perservere thro this, God bein my Healer!!! ^_^