" Peripheral Neuropathy "...

... I have been suffering with Neuropathy of the feet & legs for about 3 years now. Most of the pain is in my "FEET". My Doctors believe that all the Chemo I had probably caused the nerve damage. Peripheral Neuropathy is the term for damage to the nerves of the Peripheral Nervous System. This may be caused either by diseases of the nerve or from the side-effects of systemic illness. The most common form is (symmetrical) peripheral polyneuropathy, which mainly affects the feet and legs.

... Neuropathy may be associated with varying combinations of weakness, autonomic changes and sensory changes. Loss of muscle bulk and a particular fine twitching of muscle may be seen. Sensory symptoms causes loss of sensation and "positive" phenomena including pain. Symptoms depend on the type of nerves affected; motor, sensory, autonomic, and where the nerves are located in the body. One or more types of nerves may be affected.

... A Loss of balance and coordination may also occur. Damage to the sensory nerve can produce tingling, numbness, muscle cramps, spasms, weakness, and severe pain. Pain associated with this nerve is described in various ways. The autonomic nerve damage also causes problems with involuntary functions leading to symptoms such as abnormal blood pressure and heart rate.

... The Doctors have told me that there's a chance that this may go away... however... they said its most likely I may suffer with Neuropathy for many years if not for life. I have been walking around with numbness & pain in my feet & legs for years.

... However... As I have said before: I am so thankful and blessed to be alive. My type of Leukemia kills about 75-80% of the people within 5 years. The Leukemia Society has not been able to find me one person who has survived 10 years with my rare & dangerous type of Leukemia. I hope & pray that I can be one of the chosen ones by God to live a long life.

... I'll say it again: All of you out there who have your health & are alive are truly blessed beyond measure. Enjoy your life, your family and friends and try not to complain about non-sense. You can deal with any issues you may have as long as you have your health. May God bless us all and may we be full of love & kindness...
... How u doin !!!!!! :-)

" PATIENCE "

... The above picture was taken on March 29th, 2010. I was eating breakfast on an Amtrak train going to Florida, when all of a sudden, the train hit the emergency brake. A lady had tried to beat the train with her minivan and the train ending up hitting the minivan. Thank God there was no one in the back seat. I was told the lady had a split skull and was taken to the hospital. I looked outside and saw blood all over the inside of the minivan.

... I didn't realize we hit a minivan until the conductor had told me afterwards. I just heard some of the workers yell: "Everyone sit down and don't move". I was hoping we weren't getting hijacked by some nutty terrorist. When I saw that minivan, I thought someone had to die. That lady was really lucky to survive.

... PATIENCE is what that lady needed. PATIENCE is what we all need. People need to realize that when we become impatient in life: "We put our health & well being in jeopardy". We need to except the fact that we cannot control the world. We need to be PATIENT with all the events that will happen to us as we live out our lives on this Earth.

... People who are impatient are usually stressed out and many of them have or end up with high blood pressure. We need to stop trying to act upon something we have no control over. Many times, we just need to: Take a step back; Relax; Take a deep breath; and think about what we are about to do or say. That would save us a lot of stress and mistakes.

... Just for the record: I get impatient myself at times and have made the wrong decisions because of it. I'm still working on being as Patient as possible myself. We need Patience in our personal lives, in our marriage, with our children, with our jobs, with our relatives, our friends, our neighbors and so on.... We will need Patience during our entire lifetime. Let's all work on it.

... I once heard it said that: "A handful of Patience is worth more than a bushel of Brains".
In the bible: Eccl 7:8 (old testament) it says: "The Patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit". The bible also says: (and I'm paraphrasing) : Be anxious for nothing, but with prayer, let your requests be made known unto God. Patience is one of the most important things we need in our lives. It will help us with so many issues. I have to say that since I was diagnosed with Leukemia 3 1/2 years ago, I have become much more patient. Don't wait for a tragedy before you learn to become more patient.

... Have a great day everyone. Lets all continue to work on our Patience. Lets all try to enjoy this short time on Earth with Patience, peace, faith, hope, joy & love. May God bless us with the Patience we need to get through our lives.... Ciao & Shalom... :-)

... P.S. I am very thankful to everyone for their prayers, thoughts & well wishes as I continue to battle this rare & deadly type of Leukemia.