Life With Neuropathy: Claudette Davis

Claudette Davis, a retired English teacher and writing specialist, first noticed her hands “going to sleep” on a visit to Boston twenty three years ago. At the same time she was having trouble with her feet. “I could never wear the same pair of shoes all day, could never find the perfect pair of black shoes that would be wearable once I left the shoe store, and when I woke in the morning, and my feet felt frozen in the position of Barbie's feet.”

” My doctor said it might be arthritis. Then I noticed that the feeling of tightness and numbness was spreading, first up to my ankle, like a golf sock. Then a bobby sock. Then a knee sock, a very tight one. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and try to take it off,” she remembers.

At the same time Claudette noticed that any breeze from the ceiling fan felt like burning on her legs and feet. Even the weight of a sheet at night was unbearable. As her conditioned worsened, she felt like she was wearing gloves as well as socks. After months of weight loss, no sense of taste and chronic infections, she was finally diagnosed with diabetes, which led Claudette to SDI in 1997.

“I first came in walking very poorly using a cane and absolutely sure my next step would be a wheelchair.” Claudette signed up for a clinical trial and was immediately impressed with the treatment she received. She began seeing Dr. Vinik and he has been addressing her neuropathy ever since.

Claudette has a husband and two grown children. Since her diagnosis, she's become a master gardener, works out at the gym, volunteers and can once again look forward to traveling as well as spending time with her two year old grandson.

Most striking to Claudette is that she feels that she is not simply in a doctor-patient relationship, but part of a collaborative effort. Unequivocally, she credits the vast improvement in her condition to her care at the Institutes.

A visit with Dr. Vinik is a far cry from the usual seven to ten minutes with most primary care physicians. Not only does Dr. V take examination, he takes everything from lab tests to quality of life into consideration before prescribing medication or treatment. When something doesn't work, Dr. V is at the ready with a new idea. Claudette has come to believe that she is a total participant in her care…it is a truly collaborative effort.

“I've never left here without hope and a renewed spirit – and I never feel like I'm by myself.”