So, as I have mentioned before I am undergoing an R-CHOP chemotherapy regimen for treatment of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. As many people know, one of the common side effects is some form of neuropathy - either short term or permanent. Now, I have always had relatively low blood pressure (or as my mother used to put it "poor circulation"). My extremities (hands, feet, ears) would have a tendency to feel cold quite easily ever since I was a kid. If I lay or sleep with my hands above my head they would "fall asleep" and tingle or go numb after about 30 minutes or so.
When my oncologist continually asked me how my symptoms of neuropathy were each time we would meet I would answer that they were very little. Eventually I told him that while I thought my neuropathy was negligible I had noticed an increase in the tendency of my limbs to fall asleep due to poor circulation. I mentioned that whereas it used to take around 30 minutes of an uncomfortable position for my limbs to go numb it was now only taking 8 to 10 minutes or so. I wanted to know if this could be related to the chemotherapy and of course, his answer was "Yes. Most definitely so." While I somehow thought that neuropathy would either be a numbness in one's limbs appearing from out of the blue or a constant and permanent tingling he explained that this was a classic example of the type of symptom he had been asking me about all along. Thankfully the numbness was only sporadic and not the more serious continual type which often leads to a permanent condition, but I still felt stupid for not being clear about just what neuropathy was. I now know the importance of having my doctors clarify something if I am unclear as to what it's all about.
So, I guess what I really wanted to say was that no one should be reluctant to ask their doctor questions, even repeatedly if necessary, until they feel they have a satisfactory understanding of the issues at hand. After all, it is your health and well-being that are at stake.
