Surgery at Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg

Posted by on Jan 10 2013 | Facial Pain/Trigeminal Neuralgia , Health Care , In Hospital , MS

before surgery with Dr. Anthony Kaufmann

I had surgery two weeks ago, on December 27. On that morning, Daniel and I left the hotel and checked in at the neurosurgery department. We met with the PA (physician’s assistant) for Dr. Kaufmann and reviewed my case and the chosen procedure, a balloon compression rhizotomy. Then Andrea, the out-of-province liaison, escorted us to the day surgery department where I got into a gown and got hooked up to an IV. I was scheduled for surgery at 2:00. The hope was that they would then admit me to an inpatient bed after the surgery, which is what happened.

It turned out that Dr. Kaufmann’s previous surgery was completed faster than expected, so around noon they came to get me and away we went to the pre-surgical area.

Dr. Kaufmann introduced himself to me and then asked me to identify the side where I had pain. He used a marker on my face to indicate the right side. He then reviewed my case with both of us and talked thoroughly about the risks and the future. The best case would be that the pain relief would be good for 3-5 years. The worst case (about 1%) would be a constant pain condition known as anesthesia dolorosa, numbness with constant pain.

I asked Dr. Kaufmann to explain the pain to Daniel. He wanted to make sure that Daniel had read up on trigeminal neuralgia and that he really knew why we were there. Then he told him that he had been told that the pain is worse than a caesarian without anesthetic or having an arm ripped off in a car crash. That seemed to make an impression on Daniel.

I signed a consent form to proceed and they wheeled me into the chilly operating room. They gave me nice heated blankets to warm me up before they gave me the anesthetic.

When I woke up in the post-surgery area, I was out of pain and very happy. I stayed overnight on a ward and had a great time chatting with the nurses. Before we left the hospital, I was seen by the PA again as well as the neurosurgery fellow. We also dropped by the neurosurgery department to say thanks and good-bye to Andrea and Michelle, the nurse on Dr. Kaufmann’s team.

Since surgery, things have healed nicely. I can open my jaw well now and chew. I have a very mild achiness in my face and in that problem tooth #44. However, I can talk and eat and brush my teeth without any great discomfort or electricity shooting through my face and head. This means I can start living a bit more of a normal life by seeing people and being active again.

There is an interesting chapter about the procedure from Clinical Neurosurgery , written by neurosurgeon Jeffrey A Brown.

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