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My PN? What do you mean it's "progressive"?

Neuropathy | Last Active: Jun 23, 2023 | Replies (36)
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@bjk3

It's gotta be the infamous AutoCorrect! That has gotten me into trouble SO many times. 🙄
Ray, I could have written your concerns and comments from yesterday and today myself. Would be happy to share a whole potful of coffee, if we could (black, please)!
It is frustrating not to be able to identify the cause of deterioration or pain. I'm 76, live alone, but see a PT every week (twice a week if I ask). Appointments are always care-filled, thoughtful, and helpful. I feel blessed to be living in my own home and still driving. And after having been in rehab last year for several weeks, I am thrilled to count taking care of my own space as my exercise (in addition to the PT). In about 5 months I will have outlived every relative on both sides, in terms of longevity...wish I had someone to ask how their senior years played out 🙂. I don't remember PN being in any conversation that I can recall. I'm not much help in terms of your questions, but I share what you're going through.
Peace,
Barb in Iowa

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Replies to "It's gotta be the infamous AutoCorrect! That has gotten me into trouble SO many times. 🙄..."
Ray Kemble | @ray666 | Jun 21, 2023

Good morning, Barb (@bjk3)

Ah, that ol' AutoCorrect! It has a devilish sense of humor, doesn't it? LOL

As you probably know, I'm 78, and until this PN came along, I thought of myself as being in pretty good shape. Oh, a little arthritis here and there, but I figured that came with the territory. And I also live alone, although I have a partner––I guess they call them life partners––but she has her own place, two miles from here. She's 80; we're both pleased to be able still to take care of our own homes (with more and more outside help as the years go by).

PN has added a new wrinkle to our lives. What can't be overlooked is how much PN impacts the lives of others, not just the person afflicted by PN. I'm incredibly grateful that my partner is so understanding. She's a social butterfly. I'm not and never have been, even in my pre-PN days. In the pre-PN days, if the two of us received an invitation to do something "social" with our friends, and I'd balk ("I don't know … "), my partner would sometimes be frustrated with me. I could understand why. Now that I have PN, and she's been learning right along with me just how much PN hobbles a person, she immediately understands if I should say, "I'd rather just say home and read."

At the same time, I've given my partner permission––more than permission, more like a plea––that she never let me "retreat" into my symptoms. She's learned to recognize there's a line; on the far side, it's just me failing to challenge myself, and on the near side, it's me and this time and I'm really hurting. She and I are forever asking ourselves: Which side of the line is Ray on?

You say you wish you had other friends who are seniors to ask what their aging experience has been like. We, too, have very few friends left with that expertise. They, too, are "gone." It struck me last holiday season when I went to the post office to purchase some international stamps. Over the years, I've had many friends in the UK. In the past, I bought a dozen international stamps. Driving to the post office last November, I realized I only needed one international stamp this year. Funny, isn't it, how the few of us keep getting fewer.

Let me know if you're heading this way and I'll get the coffee on. Black? Me, too.

Cheers!
Ray

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