May 12-16 marks the fourth annual National
Neuropathy Week. This week has special significance for me because peripheral
neuropathy is a side effect of my condition.
Some 20 million Americans have peripheral
neuropathy. It is a disease caused by damage to your body’s peripheral
nerves – the nerves outside your brain and spinal cord. When these nerves are
damaged, they cannot communicate well with your muscles, joints, even your
internal organs. Untreated, neuropathy can cause loss of coordination,
weakness, pain, and numbness, especially in the hands and feet.
While the right medication can prevent the
illness from progressing, it cannot undo the damage done. That’s why it’s so
important to seek a diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. Finding the right medication has been a long,
complicated road for me and I still deal with pain and side-effects of
numbness, like occasionally breaking my toes because I can’t feel my feet!
Finding the right doctor has also been essential
to my treatment. I met with several different neurologists before I found Dr. Norman Latov, a
specialist I highly recommend. The Neuropathy
Association’s website has a resource
page with recommended physicians by state. I’ve also been extremely
fortunate to have found an amazing oncologist, Dr. William Sherman,
who primarily oversees my treatment. One of his specialties is using
chemotherapy agents to treat neurological diseases. It is a large misconception
the chemotherapy is only used to treat cancer. In fact, many autoimmune disease
including rheumatoid
arthritis,
lupus, and multiple
sclerosis,
and are treated today with chemotherapy.
The
Neuropathy Association calls neuropathy “one of the most common diseases
most people have never heard of.” It is frequently misdiagnosed, often mistaken
for side effect of other diseases like diabetes. Research and therapies have
been under-funded and slow to develop.
This is why The Neuropathy Association was created.
Through its website you can find support networks, neuropathy centers, and
other important information. The association also provides advocacy and
research grants. This week The Neuropathy
Association will feature daily online activities to raise awareness and
educate the public about this disease.
The
Neuropathy Association is extremely valuable to me. In fact, it is one of
three organizations to which WELLalarm™
donates a portion each WELLcharm™ or WELLtag™ pendant sold. We also donate
proceeds of our sales to: KIDS of NYU
Foundation, Inc. and The
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
I hope you’ll have time to learn a little bit
about neuropathy this week – it just might help out you or a loved one someday!
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