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Showing posts from February, 2024

Life with Neuropathy: Let's Talk about Velcro

Hi, my name is John and I have neuropathy.  When  you have any type of peripheral neuropathy you must deal with far more than the everyday issues of life.  One of the stresses I face is joint pain. Especially in my hands and wrists. They've gotten much more sore because I'm constantly using a walker.  I wish it wasn't necessary, but it is.  To help give me a little more support I purchased some wrist braces that are black and have a velcro strip that I can pull tight. I appreciate the little bit of extra ooommmph I feel when wearing these. It helps spread out the pressure and provides some comfort. They also cause some problems. This is because the material that velcro sticks to sticks to other velcro and other types of material. So sometimes it's like I'm  caught in a spider web of clingy fabric. As amusing as it is annoying. But I've always been good at entertaining myself.  Almost inevitably, when I try something to "make things better" there's

Life with Neuropathy: Let's Talk about The Unexpected

Hi, my name is John. When  you have neuropathy you must deal with so much more than the daily issues of life.  Sure, you have to handle things like getting around, getting dressed, making a living, caring for family and staying connected to friends. But you must also keep trying to find answers to your tough health problems.  There are always so many things to do and every single one of them is more difficult now with neuropathy. Tougher than ever before.   And then sometimes the unexpected happens. We learn something big, something bad. We're given answers that hurt.  It's like tripping over a tangled barbed-wire fence. One that you didn't see. All of a sudden nothing is going right. And certainly not at all the way you wanted things to go.  You don't know exactly when you'll stop falling. Hit bottom. Catch your breath.  And in such moments, you need time to think. To grieve, to weep, to pray.  We need silence. And an opportunity to process the hard, unexpected new

Life with Neuropathy: Let's Talk about Tossing Things

Hi, my name is John.   A nd I have CIDP  (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy ). When you have CIDP or any type of neuropathy you must  figure out how to deal with the daily issue of trying to move things both big and small while pushing a walker, or holding a cane, or ambulating unsteadily on your own two feet.  (Ah...for the good old days...)  Simply put, nothing is as easy as it used to be...   I've taken to tossing things like pill bottles, pillows, a TV remote, socks, towels, my phone or other items that like to fly. Food, not so much. But if it's carefully contained and the lid won't pop open, I might give that a try sometime. The bed and couch make nice soft landing spots!  This is definitely not the same as dropping things -- because my tremendous tossing efforts are totally intentional . Granted, sometimes what I'm throwing ends up on the floor so I guess that technically turns it into a dropped item. But against my will. That's for sure.  Wi