Sorry this is so long. My husband spoke to my initial neurologist the other night. The neuro first told him that I do not "fit the profile of a classical
ALS patient." However the EMG showed areas of concern in my left arm. He indicated that my right arm was fine and that he detected a slight concern in my jaw (he inserted the needle under by jaw to check my tongue." With this information he classified me with a Motor Neuron Disease. But he went on to state that he "suspected
ALS" but he was not sure if this was the case and that is why he sent me to the
ALS clinic.
When I went to the clinic. The doctor examined me head to toe. She had me open my mouth and she observed my tongue and said it did not evidence any signs. She also noted that I demonstrated no weakness in any other part of my body except my left arm. She wants to to repeat the EMG on my left arm but also include both legs, paraspinals and tongue. She did indicate that based on what she noticed with my tongue, the EMG most likely would come back normal. But she wants to test it and my face. I am so scared to death because she told me that if any of these come back positive that she can definitely diagnose me with
ALS. The OT came in to see me and did a series of muscle strength and coordination tests on my left arm. When he was done, he asked, "Why are you here." I told him about my arm weakness and he said that he did not see it as being severe. His test consisted of me extending my arm and him pushing down, up and against it. He also had me do finger exercises. This was quite different than the doc's test where she made me bend my arm into a bicep curl and pulled down on it. My arm fatigued after 30 seconds! However, she was extremely surprised with my hand strength.
The OT concluded by telling me not to worry. He said that the muscle group that is evidencing weakness is not the shoulder or the hand. It's "in the middle" which is really not a classic sign of
ALS.
Can someone shed some light on this out there? I am so terrified!
Follow Up Questions to ALS Possibility 
