Too old for surgery?

Hello there Dave's wife!  Just to say that I had HFS for 9 years before having surgery at age 62 in Bristol, UK.  I am now spasm free.  As Ed has indicated below, age is not a barrier to having surgery and the surgeon will ensure that Dave has all the necessary pre-op checks and tests to ensure that surgery is safe in his individual circumstances.  I would highly recommend joining the Facebook International Hemifacial Spasm Support Group.  It has some very helpful and supportive members and a lot of useful factual information about surgeons, members and outcomes from surgery.  Dave will need to become a member of Facebook (if he isn't already) and then just do a search on this group.  It is a private group so only members can read one another's posts.  I've found it very helpful and think others would say the same.  All best to you both and do hope that Dave will find a cure to this debilitating and emotionally blunting condition.

Hi there,

I suffered from HFS for 20 years.  I tried the botox injections for years but once my smile became crooked I could not continue with Botox.  I am 63 years old.  I had the surgery, MVD, for hemifacial spasm 8 weeks ago.  I cannot tell you how happy I am that I had the surgery!  I wish I had done it ten years ago.  I awoke from surgery spasm-free.  I live in the USA in Philadelphia, PA.  My surgeon was incredible.  Please tell your husband that he is not too old to have MVD. I feel like myself again.  If you want more information about the surgery and recuperation email me .  I'd be happy to share my experience with you and Dave.  Best wishes, Sue C.

I started to develop a twitch on the left side of my face in November of 2003.  Prior to that I remember that my left facial cheek and left side of my tongue would periodically become a little numb.  In the summer of 2003 my upper lip, on the left side, would swell up.  I had my dentist and doctor baffled.  On November 9, 2003 I had a heart "incident."  That is what my cariologist called it at the time, because it wasn't a heart attack.  I felt clammy.  I went in to emergency and they were going to send me home, but I was adament that there was something wrong.  Finally something showed up on the EKG.  They found that one of my arteries was 90+ blocked, so they implanted a stent.  It was at the post-op that I complained about the twitch.  The doctor said, "We all get little twitches, it will go away."  Well it didn't.

I don't know how you put up with hemifacial spasm (HFS) for twenty years.  I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found a surgeon that specialized in microvascular decompression surgery (MDS).  I had that surgery on July 7, 2010.  I still have real bad pain in the muscle and nerve on the left side of my face.  I was so determined to free myself of the pain and twitching that I had two of my upper teeth extracted.  One of the doctors at the University of Washington Medical Center told me that they have had patients come in that have had all of their upper teeth on one side extracted.  On one of my posts I personally recommended that an individual with HFS get MDS sooner than later.  HFS was controling my life: I couldn't work on the cars, I felt awkward smiling, I never wanted to go out in public, etc.  

Good news!!!  Dave's neurologist is referring him to someone in Winnipeg who does the surgery.  Could be a long wait to get a consultation and then another wait for the surgery but it's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you all for the feedback that helped Dave push the doc a little more.

Congratulations Dave!  Just getting that refferal from your neurologist was a major step.  I hope that your surgery is svheduled shortly and when you wake up you are spasm free.  May Grandfather be with you.