Brief look into my life since having Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy or CIDP, a rare neurological disorder that affects about 1 in every 100,000 persons (US figures), which means not many people know much about it, including most doctors.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
I am too tired!! Long day, but fun packed!!
Sunday, July 04, 2010
5 years.
My, how time flies.
5 years ago, I was just beginning my journey.
5 years later, I'm still traveling. I've come a long way.
I've learned a lot on this road.
Some lessons were easy to learn, other lessons were harder.
I'm still here. I'm still learning. I'm still growing.
December 2004-toes where numb and tingling. January 2005, numbness spread from a few toes to the rest of my feet and it became painful for me to walk. also the soles of my feet turned purple. February 2005-contacted an Endocrinologist, who referred me to a neurologist. By the time I saw a neurologist in March 2005, my range of motion was affected. I was no longer able to fully bend down, lift my legs, cross my legs. Nor could I fully lift my arms. My balance was off, (I walked like I was drunk all the time), I’d already fallen a few times, the numbness, tingling and pain had spread to my legs, arms, hands and fingers. The nighttime leg pains are the worst. On a scale of 1-10, they run anywhere from 7-10. After a full neurological exam, I was sent for a Nerve Conduction Test to determine the extent of the nerve damage and to also determine a possible cause for the damage itself. The diagnosis was an autoimmune disorder by the name of Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. The long name basically means that the protective coating surrounding a persons nerve has/is deteriorated. My Treatments are IVIG which are EXTREMELY expensive ($14,000+ per dose) and hard to get.
