HI. up until five or so years ago, Alan would drive with no problems. He even drove when he wore the fentanyl pain patch. It just ended his pain (he didn't go to the bathroom unless he took laxatives), but the patch helped a great deal with the pain. So he was able to drive and do his work.

BUT.. one day, we were at a red light and all of a sudden, he goes "what did my foot do?? I can't feel what pedal I'm hitting". It seems that at the red light, when he should have had his foot on the left brake pedal, he hit the accelerator. He caught himself right away.

I don't drive, so I didn't think much about that.

But later on in the day, we went in the car and he said to me "Melody, I can't feel the pedals". I said "you are not driving after today, it's not fair to anybody else and it's certainly not fair to me". It's like having a weapon in your hands and you have no control over where the weapon goes. Alan's feet had become so numb after all those years with his PN getting progressively worse, that the time had come for him to get our of the car, give the car back to the leasing company, and take public transportation or walk where we had to walk.

Believe me, when you have gone everywhere by car, visited family in nearby adjoining states, gone to Costco, gone to appointments, visited friends, and all that stops, well, we lost a great deal.

I hope that one day, if he ever gets feeling back in his feet, that we can get a second hand car and go places again. We have friends and family in New Jersey, we want to go to Costco.

I offered to learn to drive. Alan just looked at me and said "with your sense of direction, you'd wind up in Alaska". I just laughed. lol

Melody