Tirgeminal Nuralgia

I want to get serious for a second. it is a rare thing when I do so take advantage of it... Is it not just the best thing ever when you think you have heard of it all and the world throws a curve ball at you? Last year (seems like forever) i was diagnosed with a nasty little thing called Trigeminal Neuralgia. I like the old term for it, tic douloureux (Tic-de-la-roo). It is just funner to say don't ya think. Here is the quick way to explain it.

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN, or TGN), also known as prosopalgia,^[1] Fothergill's disease,^[2] or formerly suicide disease is a neuropathic disorder characterized by episodes of intense pain in the face, originating from the trigeminal nerve. The clinical association between TN and hemifacial spasm is the so-called tic douloureux.^[3] It has been described as among the most painful conditions known to humankind.^[4] It is estimated that 1 in 15,000 or 20,000 people suffer from TN, although the actual figure may be significantly higher due to frequent misdiagnosis. In a majority of cases, TN symptoms begin appearing more frequently over the age of 50, although there have been cases with patients being as young as three years of age. It is more common in females than males.

I love Wikipedia some times don't you. Makes life a little easier to just copy paste. (I try to be serious, but my sassiness keeps seeping in)

I only bring this up here because I have been having more and more frequent episodes and It always helps to have someone to talk to. Yes there are online groups but that just seems so impersonal for some reason. They already know, so no talking is needed. You just say 'hey, I am one of you!' and they understand. That doesn't help me. Though I don't really want to talk about it at all. I would rather just veg on the couch in pain. Since it will never go away.

I am willing to talk about it, though if you don't have it you will not fully understand, like with all illnesses. so I just wanted to make people aware. 'The more you know' type of thing.

I hate that that this is one of those many things that no one knows about. There are so many people out there suffering from an invisible disease, any one of them, and we don't know. they need our compassion and help.

Compassion. Funny word that. We say it but how often have we really given it? for any reason... do you even know the real definition?

Compassion is the emotion that one feels in response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help.

How often do we as a people feel compassion...how often do we act on it? Having TGN has shown me my own faults in this aspect. I wish that others would take closer look at their own look at life and their treatment of others. we are all so absorbed in our own lives that we never stop to think how others are doing. TGN is just one example.

Next time you see someone treat them with the compassion all of God's creatures deserve to be treated with. You never know how they may be suffering on the inside.