MVD post op 2/14/13
MRI showing obstruction, but the image is not advanced enough to give us an indication of how much vein is touching my Trigeminal Nerve. Worst pain is Left side of head and face. Object of MVD is to relief Atypical and Classic Trigeminal Neuralgia. Hoping to improve other complication’s such as left eye pain and motor function loss (eye drag) to determine if TN is or was causing headaches and scalp pain. All noted present prior to surgery time.
Surgery 9am Thursday morning. Out of ICU and into recovery by about 3pm. My surgeon found two blood vessels rubbing on my TN in two spots. One vein had done more damage than the other. He shredded Teflon to make a thick padded layer of cushion around the TN so that the veins cannot touch any more. He said the surrounding nerves seemed to be unaffected by any compression, not for sure but indicating my face pain could be stimulated by the TN compression.
Friday-No numbness on face, face pain improved by an instant 85%. Swelling around incision is the most painful, and my glasses bother the site very much. Right sided TN tingles and pains started up this afternoon. Strong night time Left sided tongue tingles resulting in my normal top of scalp pain lasting through the day. Ear full of blood and fluid feels like when one has infection popping and hissing. But draining. Aches a lot. Hearing supersensitive and headache very high. Escaped hospital Friday night because the nurses were not controlling my pain meds, giving my other pain meds or letting me sleep. Which is so cruel and I cannot tolerate while having a hole in my head. So I did all I had to do to get released early. Out Friday night-One day !!!
Recovered so much faster with sleep. Better each day.
Tuesday-Took off band aid yesterday to see my Frankenstein head. Numbness close to incision site strong with strong pain quality also.
Off of Percocet Monday, maintaining pain level on normal meds, Tramadol and Ice. Gallixa helps with the swelling and pain along with my Ketamine cream. With bilateral TN, my others side has been in agony making it most difficult to get comfy. I think they smashed and my ear and head screwed to a board. I have screw holes to fit. So my other ear has a bed sore thing. Ouch! Gallixa, Ketamine, Ice to the rescue.
One week after I notice healing every day. My strength returning, surgery pain lessening slowly. Finally something is working folks; my surgeon was very pleased with the instant results, because of my complex atypical face pain. He was truly unsure how far we would get with pain control. I asked for 50% and I got it. I woke up almost with no face pain. My eye still hurts with a considerable drag, it was dry until yesterday. It tears up like it used too today.
Time will tell, but we are already very impressed with the results. Not pain free yet but I have more hope than before.
Wishing you all relief,
Tree