Posted by Barb D (205.188.196.34) on September 09, 2001 at 10:02:57:
In Reply to: Surgery for cluster relief? posted by Hank on September 09, 2001 at 09:53:55:
It's a LAST resort! Trust me - I've done it! And it was a LAST resort. My neuro and I had run out of options (we thought). And it took 5 hours.
I had the trigeminal nerve microwaved (short version) and now have no feeling in my left side, have optical damage (one of the things that can go wrong)and a lot of other problems AND the surgery DID NOT work to relieve the CH (another little thing that can go wrong - the odds going in were 80-20).
A few months AFTER the surgery we discovered Topamax and my headaches went into remission, so I could have avoided the surgery altogether, but we didn't know that at the time.
This is a drastic step that cannot be UNDONE. Go to the archives and READ the posts about it. Most docs will NOT do it until you've tried EVERYTHING else (and I mean EVERYTHING). If you find one that will RUN LIKE HELL. It is not something to go into lightly.
Hugs BD