Abby Daya, TN Patient

Her Personal Story

I was a TN patient for the last 16 years. It started off as a mild toothache like pain and eventually progressed where it would be a miracle if I had 1 - 3 weeks in between severe bouts of pain. I had relied mostly on medication and at the end was taking 150 mg Amitryptylene, 900 - 1200 mg of Neurontine and 1000 - 1600 mg Tegretol.

In Lusaka, Zambia there was another patient who had TN for five years. After one severe bout he went to Mumbai, India and saw a Neurosurgeon. The surgeon suggested MVD which he had done and was instantly pain free. On arrival he contacted my husband and relayed his experience.

In December last year I decided to bite the bullet and pluck up the courage to go for MVD. I got in touch with Dr Basant Misra via mail and explained to him my symptoms. He came back and suggested that I go for the MVD. I traveled to India on 25 December 2005. I saw Dr Misra on 27 December and was admitted and had my MVD on 28 December 2005. I am now completely pain free though there is still mild numbness where the pain was. I stayed a total of seven days in hospital and had the stitched removed 10 days after surgery. Dr Misra stopped all my medication immediately and left me with a very mild dose of Amitryptelene which I eventually had to wean myself off from. I am managing that successfully and though I sleep a lot less and a lot lighter than before at least I am not suffering any pain.

If anyone else out there is suffering as much as I was, I recommend that you go for the MVD. I'm sure glad I did.

Please put my experience on your website and the newsletter so as to give hope to all out there. I know what you are all going through.

Updated 3-10-06