Hanna Shae Smith is the author of the Facial Pain Research Foundation’s series Facing My Pain and Chronic Pain Collateral. If you are interested in being part of the series, email Hanna at hsmithwriting@gmail.com. As a writer, I’ve learned that one of the paradoxical aspects of this career is that you can often find
Marsha Garcia is an ATV racer, non-profit leader, event facilitator, mother, wife, grandmother, and person diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia – all hats that she wears with determination and strength. Watching Marsha speed through the trails of the Arizona desert, it may seem difficult to believe that she is diagnosed with a neuropathic chronic pain disorder – especially one that can be triggered by outdoor elements such as wind and jolting movements.
Kelsey Darragh’s job revolves around talking. All. The. Time. About everything. And she’s good at it, too – having created a candidly relatable, international presence on Buzzfeed, YouTube, TikTok, and other leading online platforms. So, it may come as a huge shock that she was diagnosed with neuropathic pain impacting her jaw—the thing she uses all day for work.
Kathleen remembers down to the minute when she began experiencing symptoms of Trigeminal Neuralgia. It was March 9, 2004, at approximately 7:05 p.m.
You may never know what a person is enduring when they are viewed from the surface only. What might be occurring beneath the smile and the steady gait; the personable speech and the ability to seemingly do it all?
She knew because she is Rebecca’s mother: She carried her child close to her heart, knows every note of her favorite song, how the light of excitement dances in the colors of her eyes, what makes her laugh and cry.
“Oh, no, a toothache,” I thought. I didn’t know, because I had no idea it existed, that I was experiencing the first symptoms of Trigeminal Neuralgia, the kind of agony typical of the disease, one of the most painful illnesses known to humanity.
In hindsight of the year 2020, everyone will have their story of “where I was when it happened.” Where were you when the world went on lock down as the COVID-19 global pandemic rushed across the globe? Hannah Crazyhawk was at home
Let’s face it. Living with a debilitating chronic health condition and a global pandemic at the same time are a “double whammy” with unthinkable impacts.
It seemed like Trigeminal Neuralgia took everything from Erin Canter. After being diagnosed, her entire identity shifted and she lost many critical aspects of what made Canter herself: the ministry she loved, her job, an active lifestyle, and social world.
