Hello, My name is Judy, I am writing this blog on behalf of my husband John. He has lived with TN for 8 years. He started off like most. Thinking it was a tooth problem. After seeing his dentist he was recommended to an oral surgeon. The OS determined he had TN. At first Tegretol took care of this problem for many years. Then last year this medication seemed to no longer work. John was taking a massive dose of this.
He visited his PC and was determined to find someone in the Boston area that deals with this condition. He was referred to Tufts Gamma Knife Center at Tufts Hospital in Boston. John was told there were 3 treatments for TN . Gamma Knife ( non invasive). A needle through the cheek ( a day procedure) Or microscopic cranial decompression surgery. ( 2 - 4 day hospital stay). He went with the Gamma Knife procedure. This is a day procedure which is well tolerated. John got only 3 months relief from this. When the pain came back with a vengeance, he returned to the Neurology Department at Tufts.
After a consultation with Neurosurgeon Dr. Julian Wu. John decided to have this surgery. The staff at this hospital are wonderful. John had the surgery. Come to find out, there were several nerves intertwined around the artery . This could not be seen in the MRI. The surgeon repaired the problem. John was out of the hospital 2 days after surgery. We believe that this surgery will keep John pain free from this dreaded condition.
He is off all meds and feeling grateful . Consider this surgery. We wish we knew about it long before. John was not keen on this when he was told about it from the start, but is sure glad that he had it done. Good Bye Neuralgia!!