Foot Pain Causes Kenechi Udeze to Retire From the NFL

I usually only write about local Houston sports stories, but I found this one particularly upsetting and tragic. A star defensive end from USC and first round draft pick, Kenechi Udeze had to retire from the Minnesota Vikings due to unrelenting foot pain caused by peripheral neuropathy from chemotherapy. Udeze was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2008 and missed the entire season, although determined to return to football.

One side effect to some forms of chemotherapy is peripheral neuropathy. This can result in a numbness or persistent pain in the feet or hands. Chemotherapy, although effective in eliminating rogue cancer cells, is also detrimental to many healthy cells as well. Several years ago, when musician Melissa Etheridge was fighting breast cancer, she was noticing numbness in her fingertips. As she was unwilling to sacrifice her ability to play the guitar she sought alternate ways to treat the cancer. Thankfully she was successful in beating the cancer.

Peripheral neuropathy is most commonly associated with diabetes, however it is a common effect of a number of illnesses, medications, and treatments. Unfortunately it is caused by a number of different factors, so one treatment will not be successful in all cases. In fact, there are many cases of peripheral neuropathy that cannot be treated effectively at all.

To date, the only treatment that I have found that is successful in limiting peripheral neuropathy pain caused by chemotherapy is Neuremedy. It is a medical food with a bioactive form of vitamin B1 that helps to nourish the nerves. It is available in the offices of many podiatrists as well as online. Neuremedy does not interact with any other medication and has no side effects.

I wish Kenechi Udeze the best in his continued fight against cancer and hope that he ultimately finds a way to limit his pain and return to the football field where he belongs.