Gloria Arroyo complains of numbness, shooting pain near neck

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday said she has been experiencing numbness and “shooting pain” near her neck despite undergoing therapy and other alternative treatments.   In her Twitter page, Mrs. Arroyo said she has been advised by her doctors to wear her neck brace for longer periods of time due to the pain.   “Now, I’ve started to feel numb in the surgical area and shooting pain in the shoulder near the neck, not to mention the old chronic pain that has to be therapied three times a week,” said Arroyo, now a congresswoman representing Pampanga’s second district.   Last year, Arroyo underwent three surgeries at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City to correct a pinched nerve on her spine. The titanium implant was placed on her neck during the first procedure and had to be corrected during the second operation.   The displaced titanium implant on her spine has prompted her to undergo physical therapy thrice a week at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City. She has also tried an alternative treatment facility in Tagaytay City, as well as tap water and salt water treatments.   The former President said her cervical spine muscles, or muscles on her neck, have already “atrophied” or decreased in size.   Arroyo is currently out on bail for electoral sabotage charges in connection with the alleged irregularities in the 2007 elections. She is also facing graft charges before the Sandiganbayan for the botched national broadband deal entered into by the government with the Chinese firm ZTE during her incumbency.   — Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News