New Neuro--New Diagnosis
 

Well, I left the country where the hoot-owls and the chickens are first cousins and went to the bright lights and big city. I brought an outline with me that I wanted to cover w/the Dr. I got to tell my whole story plus that I didn't want to do redundant testing. She examined me and did much pushing and pulling, needle sensitivity from fingers to shoulders, toes to knees, lifting legs from sitting position plus getting up w/arms crossed over chest. I heard a new word--Diabetic Amyotrophy. The symptoms match much better and the best news was that it is not progressive and that I was over the "acute phase". The treatment is still the same as before, blood glucose control and father time, physical therapy on my Iliosoas, as they were the weakest. SW Medical Center in Dallas w/ Dr. Lauren Micheals as the Neuro. Not all questions are answered as you always think of things as you are driving home. The biggest remaining question I guess is whether I have PN from the knees down and Amyotrophy from the knees up? My children urged me to go, my Dr's urged me to go. I agonised about cancelling right up to the deadline.At least the word Idiopathic is gone. She said I had a bunch of causal factors to chose from and Idiopathic should not have been used. I had resigned myself to giving up. I talked to her about supplements and she was in favor of B-12 (especially if Metformin is a maintenance drug). She was in favor of Alfa-Lipoic-Acid. Neutral on the rest of the usual cocktail w/ the exception of Zinc. She told me that Zinc could drive down the Copper in my blood and told me to stop the Zinc and give an extra vial of blood to run a Copper at my next Endo visit. I felt my age as I tried to use an I-phone map app to find the place. We overshot by about 15 miles then got the big-town experience of doing 8 mph in a 75 mph zone!!! I'm glad I went a day early to find the place and found lodging nearby and ate inhouse. Thanks for listening and I hope that at least you got a smile. Good Luck, Ken in Texas. P.S. The Dr. said not to let my Chiro adjust my neck.

Loved this line. Oh, how true and how often it happens. We are still processing all the conversation in our heads and more questions come up but we are already in the car.

You can go in all prepared with all the notes and things you want to discuss but you can't be prepared for the responses you get and the new information that comes up during the visit.

Maybe we need a follow-up visit about an hour after the one we just had to handle those car ride questions. :)