Jackson Hospital | Partners | SUMMER 2016

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Rebecca Crumpton needed some
answers.
“In October 2015, I had a strange
tingling feeling in my pinky finger on my
right hand,” says Crumpton. “My muscles
had been really tense, so I just wrote it off
as a strange side effect from overworked
muscles, and it faded within a week or so.
It came back in December and gradu-
ally grew to a numbness that spread into
the bottom half of my hand and up the
bottom of my right arm to my shoulder. I
also had occasional joint discomfort.”
Tracking down the truth
Crumpton has a family history of rheu-
matoid arthritis, and after an exam with
a rheumatologist, she was referred to
neurologist Larry Epperson, MD. “He
looked at my hand, asked lots of ques-
tions, and eventually I had a nerve test
to check the activity and response of the
nerves in my arm.
“The results from the nerve test didn’t
show any problems; however, there was
apparently something wrong. Dr. Epper-
son continued to ask the same questions:
are you experiencing neck pain; does your
eyesight seem to be giving you any prob-
lems; do you have a family history of MS?
All of which I could give the answer ‘no.’”
Dr. Epperson suggested Crumpton
get an MRI to see if she had a pinched
nerve in her neck, which would cause the
numbness and tingling sensation.
“I was able to be worked into the
schedule for the same afternoon at the
Jackson Imaging Center. They prepared
me for the MRI and set up music to listen
to, which was a nice and easy way to oc-
cupy my mind while laying perfectly still.”
After the first scan, Rebecca’s radiologist
wanted to run a second scan with MRI
contrast, which is when a special dye is
injected to enhance certain abnormalities.
After a couple of days, Dr. Epperson’s
office called Rebecca with the results of
her scans—they showed signs indicative
of multiple sclerosis.
FASTER ANSWERS,
brighter outlook Jackson’s
updated MRI
technology led
to a timely MS
diagnosis
COMMUNITY
IMAGING
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