Transverse Myelitis and Skin

I'm a bloke. Skin is just there. You damage it, you clean it up, put a covering on it, and get on with what you were doing. Scars - Yeah, no problem!
But then I got Transverse Myelitis, and...
I have really weird sensations of pins and needles getting worse towards my feet. It is variable, but often it feels like I have a pair of thick woollen socks on my lower legs.
I have residual loss of sensation in my legs and feet. By this I mean I have patchy light touch sensation - mostly missing.
I can feel hot and cold - mostly.
I certainly feel pain, to which I have a withdrawal response. That is, a very primitive pulling away - usually only seen in infants under 1 year.
I really enjoy a good foot rub, but when my feet and legs are overstimulated, I end up going to sleep. The next day my control over my legs and feet is often erratic until I get back into my stride. All weird.
The bonus to the foot rub is that my wife uses a thick cream which, despite daily showers, tends to stay on the skin for up to three days.
The rest of the time, all my skin is much drier than it has ever been, and the nearer to my feet we go, the more dry and scaly it seems to be.
OK, I am 70. OK, I am nowhere near as physically active as I used to be; I just cannot do it - I get exhausted. OK, I have lost 15 Kgms or so (about 35 lbs), so I guess I don't have the body or subcutaneous fat I used to have. I am not sweating as much as I used to - either because of the ambient temperature in Queensland, or because of exercise - so I guess I am not leaking oils into my skin.
I am worried. I don't like the feel of my skin; but it is more than that. I don't seem to heal as well as I used to, so I am much more careful about knocking myself, cutting myself or causing damage. I am particularly concerned about my feet. If I get a cut or abrasion on my feet, it would stop me walking, and then I could not not continue my regime of trying to recover.
I have tried creams and various things on the outside. None of it seems to last. Given my previous posts about diet and TM, I am aware that I need to look after the inside. Lots of Vitamin D (and other Vitamins), increased Calcium for my skin and bone integrity, and a good balanced diet low in animal fats. Yet, it seems to me that if I increased my animal fats, this might help my skin. But not my TM or my coronary arteries etc. 
I read somewhere about the mediterranean diet, and how mono saturated oils like Virgin Olive Oil are good for the body, and several stories about people taking a teaspoon a day of Olive Oil to improve health and ageing skin. I tried that, and got diarrhoea. So now I use it a couple of times a week, but no more...

Anybody got any useful ideas??