Looking in the mirror

I think lots of us can identify with much of this post from PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY NEWS – L A
A publication of the Neuropathy Support Group of Los Angeles
Vol. 10 April 2010

The President’s Corner

It seemed to me that my 55-year-old daughter had been
growing. The past few years when I visit her in Arizona, she
seems to be my height, and I’ve been 5’5’’ all my life.
Wrong! My new doctor’s nurse measured me on my first
visit, and I’m now 5’2’’, my daughter’s height. I saw it with
my own eyes.
It’s not bad enough that I’ve shrunk; my feet are now 1½”
longer than they used to be.
All things considered though, I guess those are small
things to get upset about—that, along with a lot of other
minor irritations. Compare them to neuropathy.
With neuropathy, we hurt, drop and knock over things,
lose our balance and fall, feel drugged out on medications—
then we hurt and have withdrawal when we forget them.
Our toes and fingers tingle—then we burn them without
knowing it, or they’re freezing. That’s just to mention a few.
I guess and inch or two here or there (or everywhere) are
small potatoes. Probably, in the annals of time, so is
neuropathy. We can’t cure it or fix it any more than we can
grow taller or lose a few inches off our feet. But, damn it, it
hurts, it keeps us awake, and we’re afraid. But, sometimes I
think the worse part is that nobody besides people with
neuropathy understands all of that.
I have some confessions to make. What I’m about to say
is probably isolated to me, so don’t get your shorts in bunch,
this is me I’m talking about. But, I confess that I’ve been
known to dwell on my condition; I’ve been short with people
because they don’t seem to be aware that I hurt; I’ve
refused help from friends and those close to me when they
have tried to be sensitive; I’ve worried at night about the
future—being alone, not being able to drive, you name it;
and the worst of all, I’ve exaggerated sometimes to get
sympathy.
What do I say to myself? What can I say? I say, “Don’t do
that.” And guess what? It works! USUALLY.
Hey, good news—I’ve got it! I just figured something out!
I didn’t really shrink 3’’, 1½ of those inches just went south
(among other things) and made my feet longer. Boy, I’m
glad to at least have that settled.
I’m still working on where the other 1½ inches are that
I’m still missing! More than you really want to know? I
promise, I won’t bring it up again…..Velda