Family health update

[mdlbear]

Well, the flower_cat is officially a crone: she's been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. This is a good thing -- it's not cureable, but it's eminently treatable, and the treatment appears to be working.

I, on the other hand, have something mysterious going on -- patches of something like numbness on my right calf, left foot, and maybe my hands. So far tests for the usual causes of this kind of neuropathy have been negative. As the doctor I consulted said, "it may be ideopathic, meaning we're idiots and don't know what causes it." At the moment it's more of an annoyance than a problem, but I'm not happy about this ageing body my software is currently installed in. Can I have an upgrade?

I'm also scheduled for a sleep study in about two weeks. The Cat (who has to put up with my snoring) suspects I have sleep apnea and may need to be fitted with a face-hugger. Gaak! I'm skeptical, but it would be good to know for sure.

The chaoswolf had her teeth cleaned today and is headed for a rather large amount of dental work. Fortunately insurance will cover most of it. Well, she wouldn't be the first one in the family; my teeth were pretty bad at that age, too.

I need to walk more. Missed today, and may miss tomorrow as well.

Comments

[quadrivium.livejournal.com]

This may have absolutely nothing to do with the numbness, but how long has it been since you've bought a new pair of walking shoes? The best rule of thumb I've heard is buy a new pair every 300 miles.

You've been doing a lot of walking over the past few months. I have too. For a while I was waaay overdue for new shoes. My hips were hurting, and sometimes my feet would try to go to sleep on me.

But, I just bought a new pair of New Balance shoes (large toe box so my feet don't go to sleep.) And several mysterious aches and pains magically evaporated.

*hugs* to you, flower_cat and chaoswolf.

[mdlbear]

((hugs back))

Actually, I've been doing a lot less walking the last few months than I was, say, five years ago.

I have two pairs of shoes at the moment, both Keens. The hiking boots are about two years old and, from the look of the soles, need replacing. Thanks for reminding me to check. The walking shoes are only a couple of months old. They're both size 11; I discovered that my size 10.5 Mephisto shoes I recently had resoled no longer fit.

Apparently one's feet never quite stop growing -- I was a size 9.5 in college, and suffered through many years of blistered toes and painful arches before I finally figured out what I needed.

Short answer -- I'm pretty sure my shoes aren't the problem this time. In any case they wouldn't explain the similar symptoms on my hands.

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

Let me know about the apnea. (I've never heard of anyone being tested who comes up negative.)

A few years ago I got some numb patches -- hip mostly, concurrent with some extreme pain in my back. That resulted in me being sent to a chiropractor. In the last 2 years, the degree of numbness has decreased, and the size of the area has also gone down. Don't know if this is related to the re-alignments or just time passing.