rkw

Reviews in Goodreads

Peripheral neuropathy – result of radiation therapy?

Cataract surgery – 20/20 vision (but still need reading eyeglass)

Topic: “idiopathic peripheral neuropathy” according to Mayo Clinic “Idiopathic Polyneuropathy” according to Johns Hopkins.

The reason is that several months ago I noticed that the bottom of my toes and the balls of my feet felt like I was wearing something thick that was absorbing the normal feeling of walking around. When I touched the areas that felt that way, I could feel my fingernail, so I didn't think it could be called 'numbness'. When I looked up the topic on line it appeared that I was possibly experiencing 'neuropathy' – but as it didn't seem to be getting worse, I didn't rush to my doctor. After two months, with no change, I did go to my internist, who confirmed that what I was experiencing suggested 'neuropathy' – the problem is, the change in the nerves for which neuropathy is general name has many causes. The single most commonly known cause is diabetes, which accounts for about 30% of the people with some form of neuropathy. After that, the internist listed a whole bunch of other potential causes, which online in medical sites are bunched into groups of causes. The problem, however, is that somewhere between 30% and 40% of all instances have no known cause, which is what 'idiopathic' means – and when the nerve change happens in the feet or the hands, it's referred to as 'idiopathic peripheral' neuropathy.

The other aspect of this that can be confusing is that there is a range of potential symptoms – not just numbness, but tingling, prickling, sharp pain, burning pain, pain during activities that shouldn't involve pain, or even just extreme sensitivity. It was all these symptoms listed online that led me initially to question if I actually had that sort of problem – and decided to wait before seeking medical review.

So after an initial examination by my internist, along with just about all the possible blood tests that might reveal one of the many causes, I scheduled an examination by a recommended neurologist – who's not available until just before Thanksgiving. So I won't know much more for some time.

What I do know, however, is that some form of neuropathy is common – according to Cleveland Clinic, it's 25 to 30% of all Americans at some point. As a number of medical sites report, it is with aged adults that neuropathy of some sort becomes relatively common – and I am aging. It was Kate's dad, Robert Flanagan, who had serious neuropathy – which is why Kate was familiar with the name as well as some of the bad potential consequences if it progresses significantly in the body.

Now, I suppose I could spend a lot of time anguishing about what this might mean for me. That seems pointless at this point, especially since what I am experiencing now really has not changed my life. It's just a minor sensation that I am sometimes aware of – and as long as that is all that it is, I just feel like there are far more things about my physical future that I should be thinking about.

As I've aged I've had to deal with some of typical problems, of which prostate cancer has been the most significant so far. After surgery, followed by radiation, it's unlikely that prostate cancer will be my cause of death, unlike my father.

What has surprised me is my cataract surgery. I simply thought that would mean that the slight fuzziness in sunlight that the cataracts were starting to cause would simply be ended. What I did not realize was that my perception of color and sunlight would suddenly be very more intense – a reminder of what my vision was like when I was young and my eye doctor told me I needed to wear sunglasses because I was very sensitive to sunlight.

What I did not realize was that the cataract surgery actually also eliminated my astigmatism – which meant at age 74 I was returned to the 20/20 vision of my youth, before I started wearing glasses for most of my life. The only difference, of course, is that as one with aged eyes, I do still need reading glasses. So that was the surprise – one age-related medical treatment that actually made me feel younger – and now I am learning what it is like to live without having to have glasses on my face throughout the day. Of course, I read and use the computer so much that I do spend a lot of time with the reading glasses on – but reading glasses I can buy online or from a local store for $30 or less.