I dreamt I could run the stairs again
Sunday, March 04, 2018
In 2017 I decided to get serious about addressing the very subtle loss of feeling in my hands and feet. I had been wondering if my increasingly bad balance had anything to do with the feeling that something was either wrong with my inner ear or something worse.
But the feeling had gone from 'am I imagining this?' to a feeling that my feet were encased in tight boots. I always had difficulty with touch devices (GPS, smart phone) wondering my fingers never seemed to land on the right spot.
You can imagine the doctor visits to confirm some sort of diagnosis. First no discernible neuropathy at family doctor (who takes vague complaints very seriously) to trying to find a neurologist to doing research at the National Library of Medicine.
Although I am a Type 2 diabetic, I am not on medication, being lucky enough to maintain very low A1C's on a low carb high fat diet (again my primary doc helping).
But I had had chemo 30 years ago and 2 of the drugs had caused numbness in my hands and feet. It was nearly all reversed by acupuncture.
One of the studies I came across tied the chemo drug to having profound effects in diabetics. Diabetes and this chemo drug were an exponential whammy. Is it possible that my in-control Type 2 and this drug stayed beneath the radar until last year.
Yes -- I feel as though this was the right answer.
By luck, one of the authors of the article had gone from research into private practice quite close to me.
After running tests, he could explain why my primary doc's tests detected no neuropathy.
But he had no cure.
I finished a round of physical therapy to strengthen my foot and walking muscles. It had gotten to the point where stairs were no longer safe for me. I had experienced 3 falls where suddenly for no apparent reason I fell down stairs when WALKING.
I am now trying nutrition and laser therapy. The laser has produced some notable small effects. I can now feel when the floor of my condo is cold. Doesn't seem like much of a change, but once I was barefoot in 38ยบ weather, standing on the cement balcony, not feeling the cold in my feet.
Last night I dreamt I was running up and down the stairs again.