Good morning, Debbie (@dbeshears1), John (@johnbishop), and chapanddrew8 (@chapanddrew8)!

Oops! It’s afternoon, twenty-seven after twelve. Let me correct myself: Good afternoon!

And let me (if you will) write a combined reply. Reading your posts makes me realize how unsure I am of my own PN diagnosis. When asked, I’ve become quick to reply: “My PN? Oh, yes, it’s idiopathic sensory-motor PN. And large fiber, by the way, should you be wanting to know.” But how do I know all that? How can I be so sure? Where did I derive its many terms ("idiopathic," "sensory-," "-motor," "large fiber")? I’m afraid it’s a bit of a patch-together; the patching done gradually over the past 15 months (since my diagnosis). The first term ("idiopathic") was given to me by one of my two neurologists only minutes after he’d finished administering my EMG. I remember the moment well. It was late on an August afternoon. Storm clouds were pouring in over the Rockies. (I’m seeing the scene through the exam room window.) I thought it strange––and a little unsettling––that after telling me I could put my shoes and jeans back on, the doctor drifted away from me and stood by the window, saying nothing, for what felt like hours but was only a minute or two. When he returned to where I was sitting, he said, “Ray, I’ve good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” Then, without waiting, he went on: “The good news is I ruled out the more serious diseases like Parkinson’s and MS. The bad news is peripheral neuropathy. To make the bad news somewhat worse, it’s ‘idiopathic,’ meaning we don’t know what’s caused it. Worse yet, there is no known cure.” That was the first time I’d heard the term “idiopathic.” The other terms (“sensory-,” “-motor,” “large fiber”)? I gleaned those over the ensuing months, running each term past my doctor to get his seconding. (“Idiopathic” remains one of my favorite expressions. Although I knew what it meant, for the giggles, I checked its etymology. My OED gave me for “idio” = “peculiar,” and for “pathic,” adjectival for “pathos” = “suffering.” I laughed to imagine myself saying to people in a long checkout line, “You may want to let me get to the head of the line. I’m afflicted with a peculiar suffering,” stressing the word “PECULIAR!” 😀 )

Whoa! I’ve gone on too long. That’s what comes of a lazy at-home Sunday.

Here’s wishing us all a good week!
Ray (@ray666)