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Mar 22 - Reassessment is tomorrow

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So i have 2 more appointments left, one of which is the reassessment tomorrow.   For the sake of entire transparency, I'll capture below what i expect to express from my perspective: THE GOOD : 1) Without doubt, the staff at Dr. Thai's practice is amazing.  Whether it is the welcoming ladies at the front desk, or the techs administering treatment, or Dr. Buckley... they are all top shelf and i wouldn't hesitate a moment to recommend them personally.  While they are super great- i want to give a special accolade to Dr. Buckley- his enthusiasm and positivity is utterly contagious.  Anyway, you get the idea.... the staff is GREAT! 2) I experienced pretty significant weight loss.  I weighed 243 when i started, and Friday i weighed 216 - that's 27 lbs from Dec 21 to Mar 22 ( 3 months).  I attribute that to the strict keto regiment.  While i think i could have done this on my own without the cost, my wife rightly pointed out that i didn't......
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Mar 9

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I returned from a 5 day vacation to the Davis Mountains in West Texas yesterday.  All things considered, it was a pretty good trip for my neuropathy.  I was only able to do light therapy once a day, but i was hiking 3~4 miles a day.  The biggest issue i had was some pretty intense discomfort putting on hiking boots- the pressure of pulling on boots pushed against the tips of my toes causing some pain. As for my visit to see Dr. Buckley (I've determined Dr Bao Thai is really only the face guy to get new business- i haven't talked to him once since i signed the contract), it was a pretty good day.  Dr. Buckley suggested it was from less stress.  The big thing to report though is the change in laser.... they switched me to a less powerful laser that has 4 beams instead of 1.  The reason this is notable is because in felt the laser in places in my hands that i haven't in the past.   Hunter and Dr Buckley sounded a slight bit surprised by t...
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Mar 3

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I've been diligent to strictly follow the dietary regimine for the last few weeks- technically since we started the program.  I weighed 219 this morning.   I'm doing the light therapy as instructed... they did cut me back to 10 minutes on my hands and 10 minutes on my feet because i was describing more tingling from the machine near the end of the long sessions- almost to the point of discomfort.  Dr Buckley suggested i bring in the light machine to trade in my next session.  Exercise hasn't happened so much- i need to get back on that- and i will.  Today, Dr Buckley asked how i was feeling compared to the start.   I had to tell him out was virtually the same, or maybe even slightly worse.   At no point during my day does the tingling/ numbness ever go away.   It doesn't stop me from doing things... but it didn't when i started therapy either.  I say it might be worse because my toes feel raw against the sheets now and tha...
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Feb 21

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last update- the last week of which has been in the winter storm of 2021.  Because of the inclement weather, both therapy sessions last week were canceled.  I never did receive a reply to my previous email and i haven't been able to meet the staff to ask in person.   Regardless, i don't feel particularly better... i don't feel worse.  I really do feel like the benefits of the therapy are so small, it is difficult to say it is working.   During my last conversation with Dr. Buckley in early February, he effectively asked me to quit measuring progress against my expectations- he said it is creating stress that is working against the therapy.    I'll be transparent- i personally don't buy it.  I'm not getting better because i think I'm not getting better?!?!  If i (or anyone) could think myself to healing, i would have saved thousands of dollars. Evenings still remain almost painful.  My toes stil...
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Feb 12

I sent the following message to the clinic earlier today: "I recall when given instructions for the home light machine that i should be positive that both lights were on for "R" and "NIR"- which i have done every time without fail. However, tonight i was cycling through the settings and paying especially close attention to the settings and behavior of the machine and I noticed that when i set the settings to "NIR" only, that there are *no* lights at all.  I know that from day 1, that only half the lights on the light panel have come on and now wonder if the 2 are related. Is this proper and expected behavior from this home unit?  Is it possible that the "NIR" functions of the home machine are not working right?  If so, would this contribute to the underwhelming results i have seen so far?"
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Feb 9

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I know i should be putting up a picture of where i felt the laser today- but the sad unfortunate reality is that the sensations today were so slight, a picture would over exaggerate .  I still felt the laser on the back of my hands as i always have- and i felt a small warmth at the very tips of my fingers on my right hand.  I don't recall anything on my palms, fingers, or most anything on my feet today.  In other news, i told Dr. Buckley about my unpleasant driving experience and he was appropriately concerned.   He asked questions about how i felt later, how i achieved relief, etc.  The conclusion was that he added mm wave therapy to my back also.  He asked about my diet- which i am sticking to nearly religiously without cheating.   For example- today's meals were: Breakfast - pork sausage & fried eggs Lunch - 2 broiled chicken breasts (yeah- meat only) Dinner - triple meat cheese burger from in-and-out... but i threw their buns away and...
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Feb 5 - a driving dilemma

Tonight was a pretty bad night for me-  I drove 4 hours to see family.   The tingling/numbness in my feet grew so bad about 2 hours in that i couldn't tell how hard i was pressing the gas or brake pedals.... it seemed to be a rather dangerous and unpleasant sensation. I managed to recover and finish the drive by: 1) stopping long enough to walk around and get circulation going 2) cruise control helped A LOT - mostly because i could move my feet and toes.  This was the biggest assist. 3) removed my shoes and drove with just socks - that also helped a lot.  This was the 2nd biggest help. 4) hand massaging also took the sharp edge off.
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