MVD Surgery Scheduled

Her surgery was on the right.  Was the MRI high resolution?  That is what allowed the surgeon to show us the area; there are more 'cuts' and he could go slice by slice to the area where the nerve exits,  Again, we were able to see the impingement but not the detail of the vessels; that it was both an artery and a nerve was only seen during the surgery.   His exact criteria for recommending the MVD were the following: she had 'classic' symptoms and response to medication, his ability to see the area on MRI- not the exact details but enough to see the marked difference from left to right as the nerve exited the skull.  I would expect the recovery times to be similar given that you are both young and in otherwise good health and the area where the cuts and the basic proceedure is the same.  Please, do anything you can not to rush the recovery; avoid anything that ill increase your intracranial pressure after the surgery which includes heavy lifting- it may cause bleeding.  Remeber this usually affects people over 50 years old and even then it is not common- they will have probably been suffering for a while and not have jobs that involve heavy lifting.  Financially it might be terrifying, but explore any option of disability benefits- my daughter also works in a restaurant but they gave her front end work- hostess and work on the food truck serving through the window and having someone else load and unload the truck.  Please take care of yourself, no matter how well the surgery goes it is so important to follow the postoperative instructions to have a successful outcome- make sure the surgeon knows you job involves lifiting.   Your body needs to heal.  Contact a local service organization- they sometimes have temporary finacial help- a month's rent or a heating bill.  Use a food pantry- that's what they are there for- do not risk your health after brain surgery.   You are in my thoughts and prayers.  I am wishing you a smooth and successful surgery and a full recovery.   My daughter, surgery in the beginning of May is leaving to backpack thru Europe for 3 weeks on the 15th.  There is hope......

Hey everyone! I am the original poster of this discussion. Since you all have been so kind to me and have showed legitimate concern for me, I wanted you all to know that my MVD surgery was a success! I am still in the hospital and I'm really sore. My head is hurting pretty bad. However, the electric shocks are completely gone. The soreness should get better every day. My doctor said at the top of the nerve there was a blood vessel pressing down and at the bottom of the nerve there was a blood vessel pressing against it, causing it to sandwich that nerve basically. That's what was causing the nerve to shock so bad in my face. The doctor said this absolutely needed to be done. I wanted to let everyone on here know that my surgery was a success and I genuinely appreciate every single prayer and kind words each of you has said to me!

Hi..I was diagnosed with TN at age 20.. and medications also stopped working to manage pain..and 8 years later, i had the mvd surgery by Dr. Jonathan White from UT Southwestern Medical Center..Plus he was extremely excited to perform surgery for me.. please do not worry that they can't find any cause for pain in tests.Find an exceptional surgeon ..trust that all will go well. I had m.r.I. and also a lumbar puncture to check for m.s....all were clear.. during the surgery he found one of my blood vessels had grown too tall and had collapsed on the nerve...resulting in that constant, shocking, pain. .. the second I woke up from surgery, i no longer had any shocks from  trigeminal neuralgia..surgery was at age 28, and i am now 42...please make sure you have enough of your essential amino acids, b vitamins complex, magnesium, and zinc,  vitamin d. All your micro nutrients.. I am not a doctor, but the nutritional health is extremely important for nerves to function normal... not being able to eat for me essentially made everything way worse... and nobody was testing my nutrients panel that i was aware of... you WILL recover!!!