Joseph Needs Brain Surgery to Cure Suicide Disease

Hi, my name is Joseph. I have a problem with one of my blood vessels and a nerve. It's called the "Suicide Disease," and I am raising money to have brain surgery to try and cure it. The official name for the condition is Trigeminal Neuralgia, or TN for short, which struck me in May of 2020.

Originally I started occasionally having momentary pain that felt similar to touching your tongue to a 9-volt battery or that would go off like a sparkler.

A neurologist used an MRI to diagnose my condition as Trigeminal Neuralgia, TN. It is caused by a blood vessel inside the skull, usually an artery, pressing against the Trigeminal Nerve, irritating it to the point where the beat of my own heart causes the nerve to fire off intense pain.

Trigeminal Neuralgia pain doesn't feel like anything else: It isn't "Oh, that hurts," like if you get a bruise or have done strenuous activity for a few hours. It is one of the most intense pains I have ever felt. It goes from nothing to a 10, on a scale of 1-10, in an instant. Trigeminal Neuralgia was known as the "Suicide Disease" before medications became widely available because people couldn't live with the pain.

The medication I had been prescribed worked for a while but needed to be increased periodically. The intensity grew to where it took an hour to eat something as simple as a burrito. I had trouble brushing my teeth or shaving. The attacks increased to three times a day or more. The pain had also changed; each attack felt like I was being struck by a lightning bolt. In November 2021, one of those lightning bolts lasted ten minutes and sent me running to the emergency room. They admitted me. During my stay in the hospital, I had ten more intense attacks while they scrambled to find a treatment that worked. I was told that once we reached the limit of what pharmaceuticals could do, surgery would be the next step. A week of experimentation finally resulted in an effective medication regimen.

Over the next eight months, I went through an ever-increasing cycle: I would be fine for a few weeks, then the attacks would get worse, and they would prescribe me more medication. Then I'd be fine for a few more weeks, and the pain would start up again. I have now reached the point where there are no more medications they can give me. Surgery is my only option. It is scheduled for later this month.

The surgical procedure is called Vascular Decompression. They will cut a hole through my skull, and work their way down through the vessels and nerves until they uncover where my artery is pressing up against the Trigeminal Nerve. They will then attempt to ease the nerve and vessel apart and put a piece of "felt" between them, like insulation, so they won't rub up directly against each other.

According to my doctor, Thor, the surgery has a 95%-96% chance of success to cure my condition. Yes, my doctor's name is Thor. He will neither confirm nor deny that he is part of the Avengers.

I am asking for help because I will be off work for a minimum of two weeks to one month for recovery. I am lucky enough to have some sick time that I can use and good health insurance that will cover a large chunk of the surgery. The rest is going to be expensive. My wife, Anne, will need to miss work to take care of me during my recovery. I will need funds to cover lost wages, insurance co-pays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses. Anything that you can give will help during this difficult time. No donation is too small. Please share this on all your social media accounts. My wife and I thank you.