Neuropathy- Reminder

This little incident that happened to me yesterday, prompted me to come on here and remind my fellow dialysis patients about the dangers of Neuropathy. Yesterday, while sitting in my room, I heard my weed eater going outside. I had just showed my teenage son how to use this tool on Saturday, since I can no longer go out there and landscape my yard like used to. He grudgingly learned how to do it after griping for a while. Knowing how hard it was to get him to even WANT to do it and knowing how I had to threaten his existence if he didn’t get out there and learn, the very fact that he went out there without me telling him to on yesterday brought a smile to my face and I had to SEE it for myself. Usually, I will put on socks and slippers when leaving my room. I was so anxious to see a teenaged boy doing a chore without being asked to, that I went to the front door BARE FOOTED. Big NO-NO if you have Neuropathy. I then went into the kitchen to get something to drink. My daughter was in the dining room doing homework when she shouted “daddy, you’re bleeding. Its pouring!” Huh? What? I looked down and saw that I was indeed bleeding from my foot, but had not felt a thing. I hopped over to a chair and put my foot up on a stool. My wife and daughter got to cleaning up the wound and found that I had somehow cut the bottom of my foot. It wasn’t bad enough to require stitches, but it was enough for me to leave tracks over 1/2 the house. This is a reminder! For those of us that are suffering from Neuropathy, PUT ON THOSE SOCKS AND SLIPPERS! I have been battling anemia for a while, and I don’t need any blood loss from something that was totally preventable.

Good advice, Roy! I’m sorry you had that experience, but thanks so much for sharing it and alerting others to the problem.

Hansen’s disease (formerly called leprosy) causes skin granulation–and neuropathy. People used to believe that body parts would just “fall off” because of it, but the real problem was painless injuries that weren’t noticed. Pain is a valuable signal! There is an extremely rare genetic disorder where children are born without pain receptors that causes all sorts of problems: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070324/pain_study_070324/20070324?hub=Health.

At any rate, when you can’t FEEL pain in your feet, it’s important to LOOK for skin damage every day and take precautions, like socks and slippers.

LeRoy, I’ll make sure you’re wearing proper shoes when we go walking on those Caribbean beaches together.