I've had Non-diabetic PN for ten years, resulting from a very small cancer in my spinal chord at T11. My balance is shot, because my doctors did not discover it until my B Cell Lymphoma was one and a half years old. It is very small, but it doesn't need to be big to interfere with nerves in the spinal chord. If it had been radiation treated within a couple of months, maybe I wouldn't be in a wheelchair.

Good evening @chuckc. Thanks for joining us on Connect. We strongly believe that by sharing our experiences, we can help others as well as ourselves. Let's see what we can do with balancing. My stability and balancing program is based on the Otago system. You may also find some of the stabilizing exercises on the Medbridge site. My PT is from Mayo and I was referred by my endocrinologist in hopes of developing a program that protects me from falling.

First of all.....I do not ever close my eyes. And for standing still poses, I can always rest at least one hand on the countertop or the stair railing. So.......this week will be my 4th time to "perform" and if ready, to have three or four new exercises added.

Right now......here is a description of some of them.
1. Standing with fingertips of one hand on counter and one foot slightly in front of the other, hold that position for 30-60 seconds for 3 sets.
2. Against an 8-10 foot counter walk along on your tip toes.....with fingers of the hand on the countertop. At the end turn around, change your fingers and tiptoe back for 5 or 6 sets. The goal is to gain enough stability to walk without your hand support.
3. Now turn around and walk backward the length of the counter......turn around and reverse the position to walk back.
4. Sit in a straight-back chair. Put your hands on your knees and come to standing without holding on to anything. Repeat 10 times for 2 sets or twenty "stands".
5. March in place, lifting your knee to your hip height. This one is hard for me.
6. Walk up and down stairs, with one foot after another, fighting for stability. Use the railing if needed.
7. Make a large figure eight in a room big enough to do so. This one improves your handling of curves. Do 8-10 figures. Take a breather and do another set.
8. Sit in a chair and lift your left leg until it is at full flexion. Then do the right leg. Again....try about 10-20 times in a couple of sets.

How is that for a beginning? I do these every other day preceded by stretchy Yoga poses.
Medbridge is the organization/company that produces a program for institutions like Mayo under their Fall Injury Prevention program.

Let me know if anything if you have additional questions. You can also take a look at Otago fall prevention exercises. The program is available through Mayo Clinic and may be a program that is used at other clinics and educational institutions.

Do any of these look helpful........just keep your eyes open.
May you be free, safe, and protected from inner and outer harm.
Chris