Hi everyone,
It's been 6 months since I posted so I apologize for that, but obviously that means things are going well. Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, was the one year anniversary of my MVD. The holiday made me realize how thankful I was that I had the procedure and that modern medicine makes it an option.
As a reminder, I had four veins wrapped around my nerve so they were able to cut and cauterize them so I'm extremely fortunate in that I don't have the typical Teflon pad protecting the nerve from a blood vessel. I'm also grateful I didn't do the gamma knife procedure since it most likely would not be as permanent nor effective as the MVD was for me. I do still have some burning on the left side of my tongue (which was a type II symptom I had prior to the surgery) and there are days where I have a tightness from the temple to the jaw from my ear to my eye on that side as well. I haven't been able to figure out what triggers those sensations but they happen a little less frequently as time goes by. The good news is that I am able to travel overseas, which my husband and I absolutely love to do (my photo was taken on the Charles Bridge in Prague). This year we went to Switzerland and I also made it to London - all with no additional side effects (flying for long periods can aggravate TN because they don't pressurize the cabins to sea level)!
Here is wishing you and your families fabulous holidays and full recoveries.