I still struggle with loss of feeling due to nerve damage from where the surgeon cut the tumor away from the nerves with his scalpal. Everybody says I can expect some feeling to come back slowly over time but they never know how much. They say that nerves grow at a rate of 1-2mm per day. To me that seemed pretty fast but I didn’t realize that it didn’t just have to grow across the site of the injury but all the way to the end (and find its connection). I didn’t understand what was going on until I found this simple illustration.
Image courtesy of http://chen2820.pbworks.com/w/page/11951452/Biomaterials%20for%20nerve%20regeneration
My doctor calls the process I’m going through the “magic year.” They expect these nerves to re-grow and connect slowly over this year for increased feeling where I’m missing it. Unfortunately, this is a very slow processess but I’m thankful nerve regeneration is going on and there is hope for restoring feeling in my body.