During a discussion with a family member today, I was informed (rather rudely) that Peripheral Neuropathy is a form of MS.

Since this particular family member, until today, did not know I have MS, I have never corrected this uninformed member of the family.

Today I had had enough and decided it was time to "let the cat out of the bag" and have an educational moment about MS.

He asked me question after question about MS and tried to tell me I didn't know what I was talking about. That PN was a disease and a rare form of MS and that his wife's neurologist knew more than I did b/c he was from the Mayo Clinic! Yeah, so what. Am I supposed to be impressed?

After about 15 minutes of discussion, at least he knows that I know more about MS than he ever will and that I am not buying his story anymore and neither is anyone else in the family.

So tell me, how many of you have PN, a form of MS????



family is so much fun....

Cheryl

You go girl! I hope you embarrassed him today. Good for you for standing up to him and his ego.

Families sure are a trip and a half.

PN as in "pain in the neck" family members? LOL. There is always one in every family.

I am so sorry you had to go through that this evening. I am glad you were able to Kindly share your knowledge with him and finally let the cat out of the bag.

Thanks Beth. I have had enough family in the last two days to last me for the rest of my life!

This family member sounds like my youngest sister who knows everything about everything Glad you at least spoke your mind and set a few facts straight. He may not get it ever, but at least the rest of the family knows he's sucking wind

Hugs,
Carolyn

You are right Carolyn, he won't ever get it. What I did do was let him know that no one is buying his story anymore about his wife's "illness." If she doesn't want to participate with the family that's fine...she doesn't have to...but stop making up stories. NO ONE CARES!!!

I'm so sorry you had to go through this carp!

I don't have PN but I do have MS, and so far I've not heard that they are one and the same thing. Strangely enough, one would have thought that as MSers of some long standing (lots of us), we would have caught a whisper by now if this is such a well known fact that said family member is so well versed in the signs, symptoms and diagnoses.

I'm wondering if that particular family member has been giving my own sister lessons (or vice versa) , as she's always bullheaded as far as my own symptoms and diagnosis are concerned.


I didn't know we had sisters who are so much alike Carolina..........sounds like mine and your's could be twins!

I think you did better than I would have done FG, 'cos I'd have probably lost my cool! Pig headed people & I tend not to get along all that well, especially when it comes to something that I'm well educated about. I've been known to get more than a little upset.

I will admit it was a very interesting discussion! I was amazed at how misinformed he was/is. If nothing else, at least he now knows why I don't get involved with him and family issues any more.

I used to have a horrible temper. He's not worth it. This trip is about my mom...not him, not me and not his wife...most assuredly. And it certainly isn't anymore. That was crystal clear when he left today!

How right you are!

From what you've said, your Mom is your number one concern at the moment, as she obviously needs you on her side.

I have some family members that I have little to do with now, as the stress they've caused me over the years simply isn't worth the pain they've put me through.

Hang in there FG. No-one is worth putting up with that carp for.

Hmmm . . . and we wonder why they haven't found the cure yet.

This is an old explanation, but the simplest I found:

"Peripheral neuropathy is not a feature of MS, MS by definition affects the
central parts of the nervous system, the brain and spinal cord, while in peripheral neuropathy the disease process is centered on the peripheral nerve fibers.

In MS the effects of a central lesion may superficially resemble the effects of
a peripheral neuropathy but it is usually possible to distinguish between the two based on the pattern of sympotoms reported by the patient and the findings on examination.

The common causes of peripheral neuropathy include :

Diabetes, thyroid disease, vitamin deficiencies, vasculitis or autoimmune
diseases, drug side effects, due to distant effects of tumors, familial,
renal failure and in a large number of cases the underlying cause is not known."

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/neuro/archive/3565.html

Maybe he was confused with something else, like Devic's, NMO, or MA (is that the abbreviation for that really bad form of MS?), etc.

Cherie