At 64, she had spent four years moving from one solution
to the next while her world became smaller.
Margaret's doctors called her condition "idiopathic neuropathy"—
essentially the medical way of saying they did not know why it had
started. Not knowing the cause did not stop the cycle of
prescriptions, creams, injections, devices, and appointments.
She tried increasing doses of gabapentin, then Lyrica. She tried
lidocaine and capsaicin. She paid for nerve blocks, a TENS unit,
specialized shoes, insoles, and 12 acupuncture sessions. Some
options gave brief relief. Others created brain fog, dizziness,
nausea, weight gain, or more burning.
The most painful moment came when her daughter invited her to
Disneyland for her granddaughter's first visit. Margaret knew she
could not stand or walk for an entire day.
When her granddaughter said,
"You never come to anything anymore, Grandma,"
Margaret went to her bedroom and cried.
That was the moment the problem stopped being only about her
feet. It was about the life she was missing.