Marianne's Neuropathy

It was 1985 and the beginning to my journey through hell. I was out with a friend and it was July. I had just had a hysterectomy 2 weeks before that. I in no was think this condition was triggered by that operation. Anyway I felt the strangest feeling in my right toe under my toenail. It was very painful. Within one weeks time I felt like I was walking on sharp rocks inside my skin and at the same time bee stings. As the summer went on my pains became unbearable and it took 2 long years to be diagnosed as neuropathy. I am not a diabetic. I went through my doctor telling me to get new shoes to him suggesting it was in my head. I happened to be working with a nurse and I would complain to her of my pain. She said her daughter was working on a test at the univ of pgh on peripheral neuropathy. I went. In the mean time I looked on the web and found one article and just one book that was useless on the disease. I went to the study and it didn't help. Finally when I showed my book to my dr. he agreed it could be PN. For two years I suffered and had to quit my job because I could was walking out of my shoes because I could not wear shoes with backs because it felt like my feet were in vice grips. I was a school guard and was literally walking out of my shoes as I was crossing children. I also do not blame my neuropathy on my school guard job (because I was on my feet). Actually standing up was more comfortable than sitting or laying because I needed to press my feet on the ground or wall to get a tiny bit of relief for two minutes. The symptoms were bee stings, burning, the sensation that someone was banging by feet with a sledge hammer and a feeling of brush burn. I was going crazy. I had no pain medicine except amitriptline which only knocked me out. But when I came to I had nothing but hell for a couple years. (doctor, I have to run but I'll finish this up on my next e-mail) try to remind me of anything I told you and Rich remembers a lot. I am going to pick his brain right now. I will have 5 pages before the end of the week. Love MAK p.s my feet feel great after today’s treatment Thanks again. You saved my life.

Doctor Edward, please excuse me if I repeat myself when I write these (by the way did you get the 1st one?) let me know. I am not saving them and I wonder if you are so we can make something to send to wherever this is going that makes sense. So what I am thinking today is how I would be in pain for (extreme indescribable Pain) for tem days to two weeks. Now after being treated by you that is such a thing of the past its hard to comprehend. Only lately have I been appreciated the wonder of the new way of being treated and being told by neurosurgeons from pgh to Cleveland Clinic that this is how I had to live and only drugs would help. Being set free of those pains is so wonderful that I could only pray that other neuropathy people could try this. I was given hope from the day I walked into Dr Kropf’s office. Not false hope but hope he would try a new thing. I really thought my lack of pain was in my head but after 3 days I knew this was real. I forget to mention I even tried acupuncture. Anyway it kept getting better. My life was coming back. You see I felt (because when you have chronic pain you have a lot of time to feel sorry for yourself) that the old Mary Ann was dead. Never to return. my husband felt the same. He was sad and so was I. I take such granted for having my old self that as I am writing I feel like an unappreciated creep. Please excuse me for that. You gave me myself back and after 6 months I am really only coming to grip with this. This light therapy is so fantastic I hope people use it more. But I came to a place where three wonderful people not only cured me but were so uplifting and kind to me I don't know how to thank them. And I know Dr. Kropf (or else am pretty sure he never did a neuropathy patient before) but he had the faith to believe this method of medicine worked. In this testimony I want to stress the pain but I also want to stress the