Stacy,

Thanks for your kind message. I think a lot about the support you and others have provided and it is so meaningful to me. There are so many people here like us that are suffering, and it makes me so angry that more progress has not been made in terms of diagnosis and treatment. In my case, I have had this neuropathy for 20 years, and yet I am "idiopathic" in terms of diagnosis. They did do an skin biopsy that came back abnormal as I knew it would. Yet still no answer for what is causing it. I think about what cell phones and computers looked like 20 years ago, and it is amazing how much technology has changed, yet in that time period precious little has changed in terms of diagnosis, medications and other treatments for neuropathy. I pray that one day neuropathy will emerge, as breast cancer has, in terms of public awareness and funding, that we will emerge as a united voice to tell our government officials that this epidemic needs to be properly funded. I will only speak for myself in saying that, despite my best efforts to remain positive, this disease has destroyed a part of me. I am not as effective in my career as I would otherwise be, I am not the husband that I fully want to be, and most importantly I am not the father that I aspire to be, all because I suffer from intractable pain every day of my life.

Peace be with you, and let's all continue to do all that we can to support our cause and bring awareness to it, not only for our sake, but for the many others that are out there today that don't know it, but one day will suffer from neuropathy.

Jason