Numb Encore

I have been struggling with neuropathy for over seven years. It first began while traveling abroad and did not come on gradually, but suddenly. After standing up and falling over I came to the realization that I had lost control of the muscles in my foot. On top of that, parts of my arms, legs, hands, and feet became numb and filled with a tingling sensation. Upon returning home, I began extensive testing to get to the root of the problem. From MRIs to blood tests and EMGs, I was poked and prodded only to be told my symptoms didn’t match theories and that after six months my foot would probably never work again. Then to my surprise, eight months after the ordeal began I started to regain control of the muscles in my feet.  I continued with the medical bills and testing, but eventually gave up and began living with the loss of sensation after I was told so many times that what’s happening does not make sense. 

After almost six years of living like this, it happened again… I stood up and no longer had control of the muscles in my foot.  To my surprise, it only lasted two weeks, but I immediately began the testing again in fear that it could get worse. I found a neurologist who for the first time ever told me that the tests accurately portrayed what I had been saying all along, yet we still had no answer as to why.  I became labeled the mystery patient - and for months I stayed the mystery patient. In that time there were educated guesses as to what was going on, but never anything concrete. Once again I became tired of being poked and prodded only to find nothing, but this time I had my fiancé Jamie in my corner even more determined than I to find an answer. 

We began trying alternative methods to relieve the symptoms. Though I felt better, the numbness and tingling were just as prevalent as ever. It was at this point that we were introduced to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. At first I questioned it, but no choice I quickly found myself getting zipped up in a chamber by Jamie. In the day of the first session, besides feeling relaxed, I noticed no  changes in symptoms I had been experiencing. It wasn’t until the following day that while hiking I felt as if my finger was wet and could not be dried. For ten minutes I kept this perplexing thought to myself until finally I had to ask someone to check it for me. It was in this moment of them telling me that it’s dry (they thought I was crazy), that I realized what I was feeling in my finger was sensation, something I hadn’t felt in it for seven years. Immediately I began doing back to back sessions, and since have regained a significant amount of sensation in my hand.