Status
Not open for further replies.

TerryO

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
18
Reason
PALS
Country
CA
State
Alberta
City
Rocky Mountain House
Hello everyone:) My husband was diagnosed in december 2006 . it has taken approx 2 yrs to get tothis diagnosed. his neuro here in edmonton wants to do a spinal tap just to rule out some types of lymphomas that only show in this fluid has anyone heard of this? His first symtom was a very weak ankle that kept rolling over and doctors said he sprained it!
He told them repeatedly there was no pain so how could it be a sprain. one doctor sent him for physio and she diagnosed nerve damage and referred to neuro. Right now he has weakness and atrophy on right side and slurred speech. i hope that if I am ever diagnosed with
any devastating disease that i will be half as strong as he is. My husband still gets up and goes to work everyday and will until he is unable to get there. We are seeing a naturopath in calgary and she seems to be very good. thanks in advance for the support of this website.
 
Hi Terry. A spinal tap is a routine procedure to rule out spinal tumours and various other spinal cord injuries. If you are here on this forum then someone must have mentioned ALS. Hopefully it won't be. An ALS diagnosis can be a long and involved process. Try not to think the worst. It might not be as bad as you think.
AL.
 
Hi Terry. Welcome. Neuro-muscular problems are really hard to pin down so you and hubby will have lots of tests and waiting for appointments ahead of you. feel free to join us at any time. I found the search feature at the top of this screen to be a big help, as well. Hope you two solve what is happening with your husband soon! Cindy
 
Terry, I've never heard of lymphomas that can only be detected in spinal fluid but that certainly doesn't mean they don't exist. I can tell you, though, that they are an ALS differential I've never heard of. I think the key here is where the ALS diagnosis was rendered. If your husband was diagnosed at an ALS center, the spinal tap is probably unnecessary and your (presumably local) neuro may be grasping at straws. If you're not confident in the ALS diagnosis, my advice would be to seek a second opinion at an ALS center rather than dealing with a local neuro who thinks he knows more than an expert (if that, indeed, is what is going on here).

Cindy and Al--did you miss the part where Terry told us her husband had been diagnosed after two years of symptoms?
 
Terry,

Welcome, we're here to support you in any way. Please feel free to ask any questions, come when your having a bad day and we'll be here or whatever, we're here for you.

It's a long, hard frustrating road, but we're all in this together.

Rgds,

Jamie
 
Spinal taps are vEry safe now a days They will show MS Lymes proteins white cells and many more Do it all to rule out things that minic ALS I did Pat
 
No Meg I didn't really miss that part but in my part of the country an LP is uisually given before a diagnosis. As they say, rule out everything else then probably the only thing left is ALS.
AL.
 
Maybe it depends on where/how your symptoms first present. My doc ran tests (Xrays and CAT scans) to rule out lymphoma and lung cancer because of the possibility of tumors putting pressure on nerves somewhere in my shoulder area that might have resulted in the weakness/atrophy in my hand which is where things started and stayed for almost two years.

Liz
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top