Numbness in right leg and pain in lower back

[marinkin]

My mother is 53 years old, woke up one day with severe pain in her lower back and felt that her right leg was getting numb. I rushed her to an ER where they did an x-ray and a cat scan, said everything looked fine. By that time the pain got much worse in both her lower back and her leg. She couldn't step on the leg and had to use a wheel chair. the doctor said it was her sciatic nerve that got pinched or inflamed. She got a little better by the next day, had a massage, started walking a little.

She went to a Chiropractor the day after, who was convinced that she had a mini stroke (TIA) and insisted that she goes to her family doctor and than ER. That's what she did. At the ER they told her that her symptoms do not look typical for a stroke so they admitted her to do further evaluation. After a number of MRIs and CAT scans, and lots of blood testing, they said it is her sciatic nerve that got inflamed, and that her blood is fine, and MRI and MRA did not show anything so they discharged her with a referral for a physical therapy.

When she went for a physical therapy the same Chiropractor said that he is 100% sure she had a mini stroke and that the MRI may not show it. His biggest argument is that when she walks slowly on a straight line, her right leg that's numb is going slightly to the left and my mother doesn't control it. But she controls it more with every day, it's been 6 days and she already is walking and the numbness is going away and she is able to walk normally without losing control.

We don't know what to think anymore. This Chiropractor has a very good rep and says that it's without a doubt a TIA. My mother is very worried. By now the pain in her lower back is gone (it only hurts if she presses on that spot) her leg is still numb but not as much and she is able to walk. There were no other symptoms present, just the numbness and the pain in lower back. She had this pain there for years but never this bad. She is going for EMG test in couple days. Please I don't know what to believe anymore. I need another opinion. Could a hospital miss a mini stroke? If she cant control her leg as much and it's numb is that enough symptoms to say it's a mini stroke?

Also in the hospital they prescribed her Methylprednisolone, after taking for one day, today suddenly her right cheek got red and hot, while the left one remained cold, and her blood pressure jumped to 169/85. She took a pill and it went away. Please help I don't know where to go with her anymore and which doctor to see.

Thank you.
Marina