MY TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA 23

I woke up on Saturday morning with the usual short bangs of pain in my left eye, but nothing compared to what I had experienced over the last few days. I did realise that the inside of my mouth was fairly sensitive, but again, nothing as bad the last few days.

About 3:00pm I felt well enough to attend my granddaughter's birthday party. This was the adult version. The children's version had been held earlier that day at a soft play facility called Juniper Jungle. My wife had been press ganged into attending and arrived home exhausted.

Anyway, I arrived at the birthday party feeling reasonably well, I even managed a couple of sandwiches. However, the birthday cake proved to be a step too far. Being a greedy 'B' I had to have two pieces. The second piece started the pain. I shouted Janice, and I managed to get out of my son's house before anyone realised what was happening. I did not want my parents or brother and his wife to see me like that.

I got into my wife's car just in time for another attack of TN pain at the top end of the scale. If I'm honest, this was not the worst level of pain I had ever felt i.e. not enough to make me scream, but enough for the tears, snot and saliva to start running and render me incapable of speech. Janice wanted to take me straight to hospital, but being the optimistic type, I told her to take me home as I was hopeful the pain would pass. No such luck.

The pain continued and an ambulance was duly called and it arrived almost immediately. While my wife was explaining my condition to the paramedics (again, they had never heard of it) the pain lifted leaving me a quivering wreck. The paramedics were superb and transported me to A&E at Crosshouse Hospital.

I was checked in by an extremely pleasant nurse, hooked up to all the machinery they use these days, blood sample taken and told someone would be with me in due course. I must have fallen asleep because I remember wakening and seeing another female nurse looking at me. As I went to say hello to her I was struck down by the usual lightning bolt in my head and the pain returned rendering me incapable of functioning. The nurse asked me what was wrong. I think I managed to say TN. She then asked me where the pain was. I think I managed to gesture with my hand that it was the left side of my face. She said to me 'if you're not going to speak to me, there's nothing I can do for you'. I managed to ask her to get my wife who would be able to explain my condition to which she replied 'only you can tell me what's wrong'. She thereafter said 'well if you're not going to speak to me, I can't help you' after which she drew the curtains and left me. My wife managed to gain access to me a short time later and basically brought the roof down about her before I got any assistance.

When people started listening, she was able to explain that I had been admitted previously and the best initial treatment had been pethidine. I think I was eventually administered pethidine and paracetamol intravenously after which I was admitted to Ward 3E, the admission ward, and then moved to Ward 2D, back under the care of Doctor Allan and his team.

The blood sample the nurse had taken from me on arrival at A&E showed a blood sugar level of 11 which was high enough to indicate that I had diabetes. Remember the birthday cake; a fasting blood test the following day showed that my blood/sugar level was normal. No wonder my granddaughter was hyper!

While I was in hospital this time, the sensitivity in my mouth and left eye remained high while my confidence to function at a reasonable level remained low. That said, the really extreme pain never returned and I was discharged from hospital on Tuesday 24 November. I nearly needed a barrow to carry the drugs they sent me home with. The drugs are really hitting me hard and I can only function if I really focus my mind on whatever I’m doing to force my way through the fog.

It would be remiss of not to mention the staff on Ward 2D. While there was little hands on nursing in my case, I was in a position to observe the care provided to others less fortunate than myself (can't believe I used the phrase 'others less fortunate than myself'). I can say without fear of contradiction it was superb. What I saw was nurses who really cared about their patients, the Ward Sister used the phrase "we try to go the extra mile here" and that summed it up perfectly. I suspect that the mark is set by Dr Allan who appears to be the most calm, caring and compassionate individual I have ever met (a great quality in a doctor). These qualities tumble down to Doctors Patten and Patterson and then on to the rest of the staff; care of the highest quality.

On discharge, Dr Allan provided me with a letter covering my condition and the treatment required upon admission to A&E, which I could present to the staff there should I be admitted again.

My wife has filed for divorce......only joking, but she would be totally justified if she did!!

My life is not my own!!