Life with Neuropathy

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

Are there certain songs that always touch you? I mean always. No matter what you're going through is there some special music that is guaranteed to move and delight your soul? Certain tunes that lift you up when you're feeling low.  Maybe even make you weep.  For me, listening to the Carpenters touches something very deep inside me. Karen Carpenter's voice makes me think about the insistent search for true love and the pain of loss. Her music is about constant hopefulness and frequent sadness, very much like living with a chronic medical condition.   "I Know I Need to Be in Love" and "Rainy Days and Mondays" filled me with beautiful dreams for the future with my "One True Love." Someday. The girl of my dreams, who I hadn't yet met.  I wanted to find the one person who was willing to "Love Me for What I Am," for simply being me. And I knew that "I Won't Last a Day Without You" was absolutely accurate when I, as a goo

Hi, my name is John and I have peripheral neuropathy. Sometimes I have difficulty separating my physical pain from the verbal expression of that pain. That means that sounds are triggered by my constant discomfort.  When I hurt, I say "Owww!" It's the way things work for me.  The "Owww!" serves as a placeholder for other things I might want to vocalize. I guess if I tried I could stay silent and avoid these minor verbal outbursts. And sometimes I do. Many times.  Or I might say "Owww!" under my breath.  When I'm completely alone at home, I often scream "Owww!" at the top of my lungs. Maybe scream some other things. Give voice to the emotions that are tied tightly to the knife-stabbing pains tearing through my muscles and joints. Sometimes I get tired of hiding the extent of the anguish that is part of my daily neuoropathy experience.  Read more about more neuropathy journey at Let Me Introduce Myself .  I believe it's OK to acknowled

Life With Neuropathy:  A Little Humor, Very Little Hi, my name is John and I ha ve severe idiopathic peripheral neuropathy.  So I'm used to using a walker. I don't like it but I live with it. Read more about  worsening symptoms.  Here are also a few thoughts about standing tall during tough times.  Today let's talk about humor. One of the ways that I've always survived the daily grind (even before being diagnosed with neuropathy) was looking at the world through a very strange and crooked lens. To be honest, sometimes (OK, lots of times) I was the only one laughing, but as my wife likes to say, "You're definitely able to amuse yourself."  And that's a gift, right?  Plus it's true. I see things in weird ways and sometimes stuff just makes me laugh. No explanation necessary. How about you? What's your general outlook on life? Half-full, half-empty -- or no glass at all? When things got so bad for me that I needed to use a walker, a dear friend