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Unexpected Gifts of Pain and Suffering
By Jennifer Roland “Which leg has the most pain?” the clinician asked. “The right,” I told her. “We’ll be taking five skin samples from that leg, then. Two above the ankle, two above the knee, and one below the hip.” “Five?! I thought it was just one from my ankle.” “This allows for a more accurate diagnosis,” she explained. “It will also tell us if the neuropathy is length-dependent.” On the exam table, each biopsy site was cleaned and anaesthetized. A circular punch tool was pressed into my skin to remove five cylindrical samples, each 4-5 mm deep, to send to the lab for analysis. At the end of the…