Guest Author of The New Book "Facial Pain: Living Well with Neuropathic Facial Pain"

Laura is a woman with dark brown hair and green eyes. She is wearing glasses and

smiling. Laura holds up a white, dark blue, and teal book. The title of the book is

Facial Pain: Living Well with Neuropathic Facial Pain

I was honored to be able to write a chapter for the new book, Facial Pain: Living Well with Neuropathic Facial Pain!

When I decided to share my story in this book I wanted to make sure I shared the message that I learned, and that is, pain and joy can coexist. You can still have a beautiful life even with the pain of TN.

I'm thankful to the wonderful editor of this book Anne Brazer Ciemnecki, The Facial Pain Association (FPA), and The Young Patients Committee (YPC) for this amazing opportunity.

You can buy the book here!

The Facial Pain Association and the Young Patients Committee are an insightful and supportive resource for facial pain patients and their loved ones!

Comments

Disabled and Loved

ID for accessibility: Photo of couple lovingly holding hands. There is a myth that needs to be broken. That myth is that people with a disability and chronic illness shouldn’t fall in love or be in a relationship. I have had chronic health conditions since my childhood. In my teen years my conditions became more severe and multiplied, I developed the rare condition of trigeminal neuralgia (though I would not receive my official diagnosis until almost a decade later). I remember the fear that struck me, "Who would want to be with someone with so many health conditions and who may not even be able to kiss them?" From an early age, I was taught I was a burden and undeserving of love. I was a "burden" to my parents, my pastor, my Sunday school teacher, and even to a supposedly loving god. Once my health conditions started showing up and getting worse, I was then a burden to a future spouse, if I should even date or find someone who wanted t...

Meet Me: The Medical Zebra

Blog Author, Laura (Laurie Girl) Hey there, thanks for stopping by! Nice to meet you! Let me introduce myself! I often introduce myself like this, “Hi, I’m Laura!” What that all includes is I’m almost thirty, an identical twin, I am dorky as heck, I’m unique, I am a lover of all things llamas, alpacas, and cats. Okay I love animals (even if I am skittish around some). I'm a music fan. I love getting lost in a TV show, especially period dramas and romances. I enjoy reading (when I can concentrate). I love trees, the sky and nature. Getting lost in my own thoughts. I volunteer with a nonprofit that I am passionate about. I enjoy the little things in life. Oh I forgot to mention, in the chronic illness world I am also known as Laurie Girl. Speaking of the chronic illness world…I’m part of it. And even more unique, I am a Medical Zebra. Yup, I am rare. I have chronic and rare diseases and conditions. Some of my main medical zebra stripes are Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) a...

Serena's Story

Serena Huffine smiles with her hand propped against her face. S he is wearing a black blouse, black hair band, silver hoop earrings, and silver round glasses . Hi, my name is Serena Huffine, and I'm 28 years old and live in the south-eastern United States. I had my first trigeminal neuralgia attack on September 1st of 2021. I was so scared in those first moments of having TN. The pain was so bad that I thought I had a brain tumor. Prior to my first attack, I had never heard of trigeminal neuralgia. I did a lot of research and began my tiresome journey of trying to convince doctors that I had this condition. I went to the ER probably 10 times total before I received a diagnosis. I was dismissed by at least four medical professionals who claimed that I didn't have TN. However, I knew I did, simply because my symptoms were spot on and I knew I wasn't having migraines. Because I have bilateral TN on ...

The Medical Zebra

Search This Blog