Is your name Marie or Ty, or both? I have more to add but don't think I have the energy to get it all in now. First, as you figured out, some people develop PN from elevated blood sugar, even below what would be considered "diabetes." They used the same standard for everyone, which doesn't make a great deal of sense to me, but that's what we have to work with. Mayo Clinic says regarding A1C, "A result between 5.7 and 6.4 percent is considered prediabetes, which indicates a high risk of developing diabetes." So I think it is possible that your elevated blood sugar caused the PN. Nobody knows if it did, just possible. I don't see 5.4 as a great deal lower, so it's quite possible this is not adequately low for you to heal. Perhaps you need even tighter carb control. You mentioned eating bread and rice. Maybe you need to eliminate processed carbs like bread and eat only brown rice. Generally on a whole foods plant based diet, there is no blood sugar problem.

Pick up a copy of Dr. Dean Ornish's The Spectrum to learn more about carbs, including the glycemic index of foods. He is an advocate for nearly all plant-based and talks specifically about reversing diabetes. Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Eat To Live is another good one.

You can get plenty of protein without animal products. It is a myth that only animal products contain protein. All vegetables contain some protein. Eating a variety of vegetables and grains provides all the protein we need. Where do cows get their protein? From grass or grains. Where do lions get their protein? From eating animals that ate plants? According to Dr. Fuhrman, one 10-ounce box of frozen broccoli contains more than 10 grams of protein. Following is part of a chart from Eat To Live, p. 152. Don't know how to format it, you'll have to expand in notepad or something.

protein(g) / calories / protein per calorie / %protein
One Burger King c'burger 18.0 350 0.05 21
Meat loaf with gravy (Campbell's) 14.0 230 0.06 24
One cup frozen peas 9.0 120 0.08 30
One cup frozen broccoli 5.8 52 0.11 45
One cup cooked spinach 5.4 42 0.13 51

I just happened to see this in Eat To Live: "Diabetes is only one of many diseases linked to excessive omega-6 fats. Source: Simopoulos, A. P. 1999. Essential fatty acids in health and chronic disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 70(3): 560-69.

If you decide to accept that there is nothing you an do about your condition, that alone is enough to prevent any other progress. This is the opposite of the placebo affect. Our minds are very powerful. See Dr. Joe Dispenza as I said before. You need to believe that you will heal, even think and behave as if you have already healed.

A plant based diet certainly does not have to be boring and monotonous, it is just a matter of learning how to prepare foods this way. My problem is that I don't want to spend much time with preparation, so this hinders me, but I still find healthy choices. For example breakfast can a smoothie made with 1 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen berries, 1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Add ice if necessary.

Other suggestions: Think about any toxins you may be exposed to (water, makeup, hair care products, bath products). (Toxins are concentrated in animal products.) Get a water filter. Look into earthing, maybe it would help. Take vitamin D supplements and/or get some sun. Try alpha-lipoic acid or R-lipoic acid. Try biotin (seems to be helping me lately). Search my posts for a link to a scan on nutrients for neuropathy. Listen to podcasts at ExtremeHealthRadio.com and BeatingNeuropathy.com.

Accepting that you will not get better is not a good place. Don't give up. Keep searching and learning.
Ron