I am not a fan of self-diagnosis or medical criticism that many love to espouse with little or no medical training. This, however, is a story that resonates with me because of the lack of medical awareness.
We have a very close friend who began experiencing neuropathy in both of his legs about 2 years ago. This made it very difficult to walk, and he has suffered a vast amount of increasing pain during this time. He was placed on Oxycontin in increasing dosages and likely has become addicted to the pain killer. To make matters worse, he and his wife live at the coast in a home that is one level off of the ground (flooding issues with hurricanes and ocean water) so getting into and out of his home has been particularly trying.
He has been to numerous doctors in the interim seeking a diagnosis that would provide him with some relief as well as understanding. Duke, Emory, local, distant – more doctors than I am even aware of. He has started a new business and had to hire his son to take over his part because the travel was no longer a possibility. For the last 3 months, he rarely left his house.
Last week, his wife purchased a new washer and dryer. The installers did a lousy job, and there was leakage. The floor in their laundry room buckled, and a new group of installers was called in to fix it. When they pulled up the flooring, they found a massive and dangerous amount of mold. Wisely, they told our friends to get out of the house, and to get out now.
They moved into an efficiency. Within 2 days – 2 days!! – our friend was seeing hourly improvement. Not only did he feel much better, he was out walking for exercise, something that has not happened for 2 years. This was a tragic mishap that did not need to happen, and no doctors ever suggested that this was a possibility.
If you have friends, family, or acquaintances who have experienced neuropathy, please have them Google “Mold and Neuropathy”, and see what explodes out of the information.
We have our fingers crossed that his improvement will continue. A tragic waste of 2 years, but a phenomenal outcome.
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I have hard this story man times. And while you may not be a fan of self-diagnosis, I believe we all have the responsibility to seek out solutions for our medical problems and leave no stone unturned! Too many times, we let the “experts” dictate our care and they do not live inside our body everyday. We are not all the same. I have a health problem that dogged me for years and years and I found relief from a non-traditional practitioner. Environmental issues are huge when it comes to health. I always refer to Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies and her “beetle in a matchbox.” She could tell when her joints were going to hurt when the beetle turned on it’s back because bad weather was coming. Weather, molds, fungi, chemicals, etc. all play a part in how we feel. Please think outside the box we are in.