Hello! I just had MVD done at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore exactly 2 weeks ago by Dr. Lim. So far the surgery has been successful!!! I was extremely nervous before surgery but the hospital and staff were amazing and quickly eased my nerves. The day before surgery I went to the hospital (im from NY so my mother and I flew down two days before surgery and stayed in a hotel) and I went in to have a fiesta MRI done. Dr. Lim has an MRI done so he can use it for mapping during surgery and at that point i had only had a 3T MRI done so the fiesta was able to show him more detail prior to surgery. In the 3T MRI he said he had thought he saw an artery compressing the t rigeminal nerve but wasn’t 100% certain. He said going into surgeries 80% of the time they are able to see something compressing and the other 20% they aren’t able to see anything. Luckily the fiesta showed something so we went forth. The day of surgery I arrived at the hospital and they took me back and got me in a gown and did vitals, asked lots of questions, Dr. Lim and the anesthesiologist team came to see me and then I spent time with my family in the room until I got taken in for surgery. I was wheeled back around 1 pm and by the time everything was done I got into the ICU around 6 pm. Prepping in the operating room and then waking me up each took approximately an hour so the actual surgery time was about 3 hours long. I was intubated and had a catheter placed in. Post surgery Dr. Lim came and saw me and said that initially he had thought I had an artery compressing because of the size on the MRI but once they got inside of my head, it was a “big fat juicy vessel” compressing so he moved it and placed Teflon sponge in between the two. He also informed me that I had a lot of scarring in my brain which could have been due to having meningitis when I was young and thatI may have just never known it. They also removed the scarring. I stayed in the ICU for 24 hours…this part sucked, I will warn you but that was mainly due to the fact that you get woken up over and over and over, you have a million wires connected to you and you have a massive pounding headache…but, let me also tell you that the headache you will encounter is WELL worth the finished product and the fact that you wont have to endure an electrocuting pain in your face any more. After moving out of the ICU to the main floor I stayed there for two more days. Besides the headache, I had very bad stiffness in my neck and my right ear (TN side)hearing was muffled. The doctor said that the muffled hearing was due to fluids in the brain and may take up to a month to go away and it has gone away since being back home. My incision is about 4 inches long in a straight line behind my ear and they didnt have to shave too much of my hair…I was a bit worried about that part being a 23 year old female with long hair that’s taken me years to grow haha but im over it now, it was completely worth it. The surgery was on a Tuesday, I was discharged from the hospital Friday evening, went back to my hotel and then flew home on Sunday morning. Since then I’ve been laying low, you take lots, and I mean LOTS of naps afterwards lol and just have been focusing on relaxing to allow myself to fully heal. The headaches have decreased especially with the help of Tylenol and im up and about without overdoing it. The incision still hurts quite a bit but it’s healing nicely and my hair is already “fluffy” as I’ve been calling it the past few days where they had shaved it off! 
Everyday things that I do are shocking to me now though, and let me tell you why…despite being on medication prior to surgery I would still have pain in my face during normal “activities” such as eating, washing my face, doing my makeup, talking, the wind touching my face, etc and these past two weeks ill find myself bracing myself while doing those same activites, waiting for the pain because that was what I was used to…but the pain never comes, and that my friends brings me a smile that could wrap around this Earth. I prayed for so long that the pain would go away and God has answered my prayers. I will be praying for each one of you that is still fighting the fight and please don’t lose hope, push for answers and stay tough. I was at a point a few months ago where I felt like I was standing amidst the thickest fog I had ever seen with no way out, no tunnel or light in sight and here I am, I’ve finally reached that light. I highly recommend Johns Hopkins and especially Dr. Lim, he gave me my life back.
Him and Dr. Casey - are the two best in my book. I got my life back too.
Be careful still with your head for a few weeks, don't bend your head down and unload dishes, sweep, play rough with a dog..... just be gentle,
because everything in your head went thru a blender - and needs to settle down....
expect that with this surgery - it will take up to a FULL year says dr casey ---
till you feel everything above the neck feels normal!!!
Congrats!
Make sure and come back and update!
OHHH - can you copy the body of your post above and put it also in the posting of SUCCESS STORIES ?
I’m so glad you are a success too!!! I constantly have to remind myself of all of the rules, it’s tough! I definitely remember the rule with not bending down, the second the blood rushes to the head it gets painful. 
How was it getting the stitches out? Im getting them out this week by a doctor in my area since Johns hopkins is 6 1/2 hrs away.
I was a whimp and took a pain pill before local doctor
Took staples out … Waste of a pain pill…no pain!