The neurologist says

OK, here’s the report. The neurologist is going to go over my MRIs more carefully with another doctor, and on first look, there’s no reason for me to think I might have a tumor or M.S. Apparently I do have Trigeminal Neuralgia. He said the symptoms I reported are the common ones. He and his colleague are going to try to find where it is in my brain when they look at the MRI films.

He was very positive about it and thinks we can take care of it. I like that about him. We’re going to see if the meds will take continue to prevent the pain. If not, and if my life continues to be as disrupted by the TN as it has been, he recommends Gamma Knife Surgery. That’s a process using a laser of radiation to do some kind of brain surgery to solve the problem. It’s also the procedure that Antoinette found mentioned in the newspaper. She cut out the ad and gave it to me. His opinion is that the other type of surgery (MVD) is out of date.

I also discussed side effects of Neurontin with him. The depression is lifting, and my feet aren’t as swollen as they were a couple of weeks ago. So, he isn’t concerned about them at this point (nor am I).

He prescribed more Neurontin for me, and I made another appointment for a month from now. We’ll see how things are then.

So, none of the possibilities I was concerned about appears to be true, and I seem to be going into another period of quiescence with the TN like I did during this past summer.

I choose to imagine the best for the future.

Namaste,
Michael

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