Trigeminal Neuralgia

Things Still Going Well

2017-05-04T13:52:00.001-07:00

Well here we are, almost six years post op and still no recurrence of my TN. Best decision I ever made. I can't believe I resisted going for the MVD for so long. The only evidence that I had the op is the scar on my head which itches like crazy if I get too much sun on it and a very slight tingle on the left side of my face.

I do realise how blessed and lucky I am. I know of someone who had an MVD which only helped for a short time. I'm not in the least complacent and there's a bit of me thinks the pain will return at some point, but best get on with life and not fret over what might be.

I've been fortunate enough to travel extensively over the last six years and have further trips planned for this year. Golf is still a big part of my life and I try to get at least four rounds in a week.

So my health is where I want it to be, but am mindful that at 60+, if I don't look after myself, it could be a temporary state of affairs.

Onward and upward!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nutz1/

My Life without Trigeminal Neuralgia

2013-01-11T09:08:00.001-08:00

I don't miss trigeminal neuralgia. That may seem very much like stating the obvious, but even though I've had what seems to be a successful MVD i.e. no pain, no meds, there's not a day passes that I don't think about it, even after 16 months pain free. I do of course have a constant reminder in the slight tingling numbness on the left side of my face. I was advised that it may take up to three years to go, if at all. If it doesn't, it's so mild it won't be an issue. I'm already thinking that it's permanent as the feeling hasn't changed since my MVD.

It's only just recently I realised how traumatic the whole experience was for my wife (and the rest of my family) after she really opened up about it the other week. She was a tower of strength throughout the worst of my TN, but it's taken it's toll on her. I've asked the question before, would I have been as strong as her if the roles were reversed? I would like to think so, but when you consider that she had to continually pick up the pieces for around eight years, I honestly don't know if I could have shown the same resilience and mental stamina. It's not only that she had to deal with me literally screaming with the pain, in the aftermath, I would be so heavily drugged that my contribution to any semblance of a normal family life was non existent. The upside to this is that our relationship is ferociously strong. It was strong before, but just seems better now. My wife might offer a different view as she constantly talks about trading me in for a newer model.

I still find it difficult to talk really openly about TN even though I never made any secret of the fact I had it. Talking about it has the ability to bring the rawness of my experience rushing back and evoke very strong emotions. That's perhaps the reason I keep this blog going, although I don't post nearly as often as I did. I don't mean to sound negative, because I'm not. I am leading a normal life, I have another new granddaughter, that's three in total, I golf, go holidays, enjoy family occasions etc. In fact, I am all the more appreciative of my life now, having previously taken my good health for granted.

I cannot thank the members of the Living with TN website enough. Again, I've said this before, there is a wealth of ignorance among health professionals who deal with TN only rarely. That's not a criticism, just a statement of fact. I was lucky in that my GP was onto it in a flash (pun fully intended) and started me on the medication which was to be my constant companion for the next eight or so years. I was referred very quickly to a neurologist, had the necessary MRI scans (four in total) and ultimately, my MVD. That it took eight years to reach that point was down to my own resistance to let anyone to poke around inside my head rather that sloppiness on the part of the NHS.

The Living with TN website allowed me very quickly to access the information I so desperately needed. The empathy and support I received form fellow members was outstanding. I reached a point where my doc said I knew more about the condition than he did. You can read all the technical manuals, research papers etc. you want, I did, but it's only by tapping into other sufferers experience that you really begin to understand this terrible affliction. The information, advice, but most of all empathy and understanding which are part and parcel of this community gave me the additional support I needed.

So onward and upward dear friends. I'm currently planning a trip to New York which will be in at the end of March, if not then, May. It's funny that while I was working, all I wanted to do was lie on a beach or by the pool, but now, every break we have, we try and tick something off our bucket list. Maybe it's just an age thing. I'm thinking Japan and China for next year.

My Granddaughters, Beth (2), Faye (5 going on 22) and Zoey (5 months)

15 MONTHS SINCE MVD

2012-10-31T13:52:00.001-07:00

It's now 15 months since Nigel Suttner carried out my MVD at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. I'm pleased to say there has been no downside to the operation and my life is back to where it should be. I still have a mild numbness on the left side of my face which I barely notice now, an outcome I'd have settled for before the operation. I can think constructively and positively now that I'm med free and there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do which usually involves grand kids, golf and photography. I am a quantum leap away from where I was just over a year ago when I could barely function. There's still a bit of negativity there in that every morning I wake up and the first thing I think about is TN, will the pain return today, when it doesn't, I quickly move on. The memory of the pain is still raw even after all this time. I consider myself blessed to be a success story and very, very lucky to have a health service like we do in Scotland. I can expect up to ten years pain free, but it quite clearly could be less. Mr Suttner say the ten year figure is a guesstimate based on previous case studies on a body so small that it renders the conclusion unreliable at best.

MVD - Seven Weeks ost Op

2011-09-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Since my MVD seven weeks ago, things have been going pretty well. Other than the problem with ‘restless legs’ which is a minor irritant, I have had little to complain about. I have now stopped taking Gabapentin and have reduced the Tegretol to 400mgs per day. I hope to drop it by another 200 next week and then stop the following week. That will just leave me the Amitriptyline to deal with. I don’t know why, but I feel this may be the most problematic. Time will tell.

MVD - Six Weeks Post Op.

2011-09-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Visited my doc yesterday. It was as a routine follow up after my MVD. I mentioned to him that I had trouble sleeping due to 'restless legs'. He said that it was a probably down to withdrawal from Tegretol as neural pathways would be getting back to normal and the brain would have difficulty interpreting some of the signals it was recieving after being befuddled with Tegretol for so long. He told me to take 200mgs Tegretol before going to bed and this seems to have done the trick. While it may seem like a backward step, when I consider that I have now been taking Tegretol constantly for around nine years, the last nine months at the maximum dose, it seems logical. So I am now back to 600 mgs a day as well as 300 of Gabapentin. I'll take my final dose of Gabapentin this comng Friday. I am not at all disheartened by having to increase the dose of Tegretol beause my body seems to deal with it pretty well, it was at the higher doses I was having difficulty. Truth be told, I probably got a bit ahead of schedule in reducing my medication (overly keen to be drug free). However, the real up side is still no pain.

FIVE WEEKS POST MVD

2011-09-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

It's now five weeks since my op and so far, no real down side. I've reduced my medication even further and really feel the benefit of doing so. On the basis of the reduced meds alone, the op has been a great success. I can think again; I can read and retain information again; I don't hesitate when I speaking as I seem able to find the right words now; I don't sleep for fourteen hours a day any more an so on. There's still no sign of TN pain although I do seem more prone to headaches (not the sole destroying type) and my wound, which is healing nicely, is so itchy it's driving me mad. I'm now off to my youngest granddaughters 1st birthday party. I have much to be thankful for when I think back to the state I was in last November. Onward and upward dear friends.

THREE WEEKS POST OP

2011-08-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

My recovery is going as planned and I now have no post op pain at all. I'm continuing to methodically reduce my medication and so far so good. To date, I've stopped the Baclofen and reduced the doses of Gabapentin and Tegretol without incident. The only thing of note is that I managed to get a little to much sun on my wound scar which made it incredibly irritable although it has settled down now.
I also took the opportunity of a little R&R at my uncle's croft at Bettyhill, Sutherland right on the north coast of Scotland. It truly is magnificent terrain and the fact that it's so isolated makes it even better, even if the surf dudes have discovered the delights of Torrisdale Bay. The break was just the tonic I needed.
It was great to see my aunt and uncle whom I had not seen for far too long. My uncle, who is a Gaelic speaker, has generations of local and family history stored in his head and it's magical to sit in the evening and hear him recounting events generations old as if he had been there himself. Everything from the Highland clearances to a run in with the local constabulary over salmon poaching. He has even featured on Gaelic language TV and radio.

TWO WEEKS POST OP

2011-08-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's now been two weeks since my MVD and the only only meds I'm taking for the post op pain are two paracetamol when I wake in the morning and it's likely I'll be able to stop them soon. I still have slight numbness on the left side of my face which is not causing me any discomfort and if it is to be permanent I can live with it. The hospital reduced my intake of Tegretol from 1600mgs to 600mgs per day. I'll continue to take that amount meantime while I reduce the Gabapentin and Baclofen to zero. After that, if things are going well, I will slowly reduce the Tegretol to zero and after that Amitiptyline. Impatience is the enemy just now. I would love to just stop the meds completely but know that it would be stupid to do so.

MVD Surgery

2011-08-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

I checked into Ward 63 at the Southern General Hospital on Thursday July 28th. I did not feel in the least nervous about the forthcoming operation as the memory of the pain was still pretty fresh. I was eventually admitted to a four bedded side room. There were three other people there; one on his way home and two awaiting neurosurgery, both different procedures from mine. Blood samples were taken, blood pressure monitored and low and behold it morning the following day and time for my operation. Mr Suttner, my neurosurgeon had informed me that the micro vascular decompression was, in most cases, a three hour procedure. One of my companions from the previous evening, Paul, told me that his op was a 7 hour procedure and I can remember thinking how lucky I was.
So the appointed hour arrives and both myself and Paul were wheeled off to our respective theatres around 9am. The last thing I remember is the anaesthetics room along with the anaesthetist and the anaesthetics nurse. Friendly professionalism is how I would describe their approach. I don't even remember drifting off!
The next thing I was conscious off was being recovered in the recovery room, sweating profusely, but otherwise feeling great. I was provided with an electric fan which helped to cool me down. A large wall clock opposite showed the time as 3pm which by my calculations would have meant that my three hour op had lasted considerably longer than anticipated. Just as I managed to convince myself that the clock was wrong, remember Paul, seven hour operation, well he was wheeled into the recovery bay next to me. I realised then that something had not gone as planned although I was not overly concerned at that point.
Mr Suttner explained to me that the early part of the operation was straight forward and on reaching the artery all was what he would have expected. However, on pulling the artery aside to access the nerve, the complications started. There were hundreds, if not thousands of blood vessels blocking the way to the nerve. Some had already started haemorrhaging which in the massively magnified view of the surgeon looked like nuclear explosions. To cut a long story boring, the vessels were cauterised the necessary work completed.
I was released on Thursday August 4th and have beauty of a scar, an occasional sore head if I go to long without painkillers, the left side of my jaw is partially numb and a few other aches and pains which are not causing me any great concern.
Most people who have this op, I believe, are looking for pain relief. I differ in that I was looking to reduce the amount of medication I was on because my quality of life was fast approaching an unacceptable level. I have already started reducing my meds, which will continue over two to three months and only then will the outcome be measurable. The perfect outcome will be no meds no pain. A decent outcome will be reduced meds no pain so I am not hard to please.
This is a lay man's commentary and I make no apologies for technical inaccuracies.

MICRO VASCULAR DECOMPRESSION

2011-07-23T02:20:00.000-07:00

The morning I did my last post has had a positive effect, or maybe he was going to call me anyway. Mr Suttner, my neurosurgeon, called me at home last night and said he could do my MVD next Friday, 29th July at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. So that's it, the waiting is over. A good outcome for me would be a reduction in the amount of meds I'm taking. A fantastic outcome would be 10 pain free years and no meds. Fingers crossed.

LIMBO

2011-07-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report, especially on the TN front. I contacted my neurosurgeon's medical secretary and she told me I'm still on the list for an MVD, but not imminently which was disappointing. I feel like I'm in limbo at the moment. I can't really organise any holidays in case they try to contact me because the notice I'm given could be as short as a couple of days. However, things could be a lot worse, the pain could still be there.
I'm really struggling with the side effects of the drugs at the moment. Today has been particularly bad. I fell asleep in the shower after deciding that a shower would be the best thing to wash the cob webs from my brain. When I'm talking, mid sentence, I just cannot come up with the word I'm looking for. I also look at familiar objects, I know what they are, I know what they do, but I cannot for the life of me remember what they are called.
I had a brief meeting with my neurologist last Friday. She discharged me from her care as there is nothing more she can do for me at this time as I'm waiting for the MVD. I informed her about the side effects of the meds and she agreed that these were common side effects of Tegretol and Gabapentin. I asked her if they could be the reason for my bad gold to which she replied you're lucky you can see the ball taking that amount of meds. So hope for my golf yet then. There's always a positive for every negative.
I went to my favourite place for snaps at the Ballast Bank and was rewarded with a fantastic sunset albeit my very expensive digital shutter release went for a swim and has not worked since.

CYCLING

2011-07-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

I finally repaired my bike, or rather my father did, and plucked up the energy to go for a ride. I hadn't really thought about where I was going when I set off so I just followed a cycle path which passes near my house.
I eventually came to Whitelees Wind Farm, a journey of almost 10 miles, most of it uphill. Maybe I shouldn’t have been as ambitious because at that stage my legs and bum were sore.
I took a few snaps and sat for a while just admiring the view back down into Ayrshire and enjoying the fine weather. It was good to see that a fair number of cyclists were also making use of the tracks. Some of them looked very serious in their Lycra. Mind you, if I got into Lycra it might make me look serious; seriously stupid that is.
As I set off for home it occurred to me that much as I bemoaned the fact that most of the outward journey was uphill, the return leg was downhill. And so it was; ferocious speeds, cornering too fast and home before I knew it. In all, a really good day out.
Still no pain from my TN, but the continuing movement under the skin on the left side of my face lets reminds me that there's still something going on there. Still no sign of my MVD.

Stranraer Golf Club

2011-06-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

The golf outing to Stranraer Golf Club was a great success. A very good turn out from the old duffers made it a really great day. The weather was superb with fluffy clouds and a light westerly breeze. The club provided us with a breakfast prior to playing and a lovely dinner after our round all for a very handsome price. We'll definitely be back there next year.
On the TN front, the crawling sensation under the skin on the left side of my face has returned with a vengeance. In fact, I can't remember it ever being as bad as this during the previous sessions. No pain, it's not really that uncomfortable, however it has set me wondering if its a sign that the pain is going to return.
My eldest granddaughter age 3 has the chicken pox.

Loch Lomond

2011-06-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

The trip with my new caravan to Loch Lomond was fairly uneventful. One day it poured with rain for the whole 24 hours, and I mean poured!! When it was dry, the midges came out. Only an insane person would wear a short sleeve shirt and shorts when these beggars are about. Yep, you're right, that person was me. You should see the state of my arms and legs with bites. Not even my India Tree Insect Repellent (with neem herbal extract whatever that is) bought at great expense, offered an ounce of resistance. Saving grace? all this happened in a truly beautiful place.
Anyway, back home now and the only positive thing I can see in the news is the petrol price war that has kicked off with the supermarkets. Long may it continue! 15p per litre reduction in some cases.
I'm going to Stranraer to play golf with my old work chums tomorrow. I hope the weather is a bit better than our last two outings when we received a right royal soaking.
Still no hospital appointment which is disappointing.

PAIN RETURNS

2011-06-23T23:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, while drying myself after showering, I had two sharp bolts of pain centred around my left eye. How do I feel after having experienced no pain since 28 December 2010? Well frightened is the foremost feeling I have at the moment closely followed by depression. I suppose I should be thankful that I've had such a long period pain free, but I want to be pain free for ever!!! In saying that, I'm fully aware that the chance of that happening is zero. The best I can hope for is a successful MVD which can give up to 10 years of pain relief. On the upside, I picked up my new caravan yesterday and am off to Loch Lomond later today for a few days.

Just to Let you Know I'm Still Alive

2011-06-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Life has been proceeding in a pretty orderly and mundane fashion, just the way I like it if I'm 100% honest. No sign of my MVD surgery although I am fully aware that it is imminent, probably within the next three weeks. I am reliably informed by my neurosurgeons medical secretary that, all being well after the operation, I should be home in around two to three days.

I've still not had any pain since 28th December last year, or even a hint of it. The only thing that reminds me that I suffer from something relating to my face is the strange crawling sensations that appear from time to time, the most recent one being the strangest of all. If I touch my left eyebrow, it feels as if I'm touching between the left side of my nose and top lip. Weird or what?

I'm still taking industrial strength doses of medication which ultimately do not agree with me so the quicker the operation comes the better.

I bought myself a new caravan (I think that's a trailer for my American friends) and take delivery of it next Thursday.

My youngest granddaughter has started crawling and she still has the worst hair ever. It is still growing out the way with no sign of it conforming to the normal conventions of hair style, even for a baby. Truth be told, she's all the better for it. Eldest is an absolute gem. Sharp as a tack, creative and beautiful. I'm not saying that just because I'm her grandfather. She takes after me.

2011-05-12T03:03:00.000-07:00

I visited my doctor this morning regarding the last set of bloods and everything was back to normal except for the fact that I was slightly anemic, which I have been for the last few years, probably as a side effect of the drugs I take. So back in three months for further blood tests.

MVD SURGERY

2011-05-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I've taken the plunge and am now on the list for micro vascular decompression surgery. I've asked for it to be postponed until after 11 June as there are a few events coming up that I don't want to miss. The pain is non-existent and it really was a difficult decision. However, all the reading and research I've done indicates that there is no cure and every pain free day I have is one day closer to the next bout of serious pain. So, no avoiding it really.
On a different note, I was playing golf last week and I ran out of energy on the 10th hole. I quite literally could not put one foot in front of the other. I thought that I was having some kind of heart attack, but without the pain. With the assistance of my eldest son, I eventually made it back to my car. I stupidly drove home and have no recollection of the journey and woke up in my drive. I don't know whether I fell asleep or passed out once I was in the drive. I managed to get an emergency appointment with my GP that afternoon. He gave me a good going over and took a full set of bloods. I was still feeling pretty poorly, but my blood pressure etc. was fine. His best guess at that point was a virus. He told me to make an appointment in two days when the blood results would be available. The results of the bloods showed that my white cell count was high and my red low which in the view of the doctor indicated that there was some kind of infection that my body was fighting due to the high white cell count. He checked me over again and told me to come back in a week when he would do another set of bloods when hopefully things will be heading in the right direction. My energy levels are slowly returning to normal so it my just have been some form of virus. Onward and upward

MVD SURGERY

2011-04-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've decided to have the operation. I haven't contacted the surgeon yet, I'll do that next week. I don't know why I was even considered not having it when I think about the pain I was in and the distress it caused my family.

SURGERY

2011-03-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

On Monday I attended my appointment with the neurosurgeon at the Southern General Hospital. He was a Mr Suttner who spoke with a South African accent. He described in great detail how the operation was carried out and described in even greater detail what the risks were. He then said he could do the operation probably within a couple of weeks. I nearly fell off my seat. I did not expect him to offer the procedure so quickly. It is called micro vascular decompression or MVD and involves an entry behind the ear, draining cranial fluid and then micro-surgery to stop an artery pressing on the trigeminal nerve. He told me to take my time to think about it and get in touch if I was up for it. I don't know why I was so shocked. I mean why else would I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon.

The difficulty I have in arriving at a decision is that I have been pain free since the 28th December 2010 as the medication appears to be doing its job with little or no side effects. I almost wish I was in pain as it would make the decision so much easier. So it’s down to me and the family to work it out. Logic says I should have the op as I know there is no cure for TN. I can well remember the pain I was suffering last October but somehow the memory is not as raw as it was. If only life was simple.

TN SUCCESS STORIES

2011-03-23T05:25:00.000-07:00

The following piece is an email I sent to a fellow TN sufferer in Canada who was looking for some success stories to give encouragement to others on the Living with TN website. It really does help knowing there are others out there who understand your pain and who you can occasionally open up to.

Hi Shiela,

I'm certainly willing to contribute to 'Success Stories', but there are probably a few things that contribute to my physical and mental well being at the moment, all of which could change in a second if the pain returned.

I have been married for 37 years, I'm 54, you do the maths. I have two sons age 36 and 30 years, they are my closest friends. I play golf with my eldest most weeks and I speak to the youngest regularly, he lives a little further away and is well on his way to making his first million....so he says:-))

My wife is one year younger than me and has the additional burden of caring for her parents, both 80. Her father is deaf and confused; her mother is blind and immobile, although she is capable of carrying out her own basic care needs. My wife is an only child.

I served Strathclyde Police for 30 years and retired at the rank of Inspector in December 2009. I missed many family occasions because of work. For the last six years of my service I was afflicted with TN, but lost only four weeks work, probably down to my own stupidity, rather than being TN free. Both my parents are still living and not in perfect working order, but unlike my wife, I have two brothers.

If you have read my blog, you will know that over the course of 2010, things came to a head resulting in my admission to hospital for two weeks in November. During my time in hospital I just wanted someone to put me out of my misery....why can't they just make you unconscious when you are screaming with the pain, and I mean screaming.

I honestly don't know where I'm heading with this......or perhaps I do. There are a number of points I want to make, the first is that my experience is peculiar to me and no one else. After my admission to hospital, discharge and the subsequent research I have carried out, I have accepted there is no cure for TN, only various forms of pain relief and sometimes no relief whatsoever, as I found out in hospital.

The fact that I remain positive and I do remain incredibly positive, is because what if I lived my life frightened to do anything because of TN and I never had another attack......boy would I be pissed off!

This attitude is simply due to the mental strength of my wife without whom I could not have gotten through this. I know she has suffered as much, if not more than I did, but anything less than a positive attitude is not acceptable in her view of the world. The fact that she has stood by me throughout the worst of my suffering, and I'm not the easiest on a good day, lets me know everything I need to know about her. Would I have been as strong if the roles had been reversed.....mmmmmm?

So, in conclusion, I take an extraordinary amount of drugs to live a ‘normal’ life. I appear to be pretty fortunate in that I have few side effects other than snoring (I’m terrified my wife will suffocate me one night). I even manage the occasional bottle of wine, beer etc. and don’t die despite the warnings on the meds. My family have all been beyond supportive and that support, dare I say love (difficult for a dour Scot to say), is what gives me the strength to not feel sorry for myself.

I haven’t mentioned my two granddaughters, the eldest (age 3) who thinks she can ‘cure’ you by rubbing the affected area. How do you tell a three year old? My mother, who is devoutly religious, will have prayed for me till her brain hurts. My father, another best friend, will have dealt with it in his own way (deep, silent type, but the best story teller I know when he gets started).

Finally, apologies for dumping this on you, but I really do find that it helps to sound off on someone who is, essentially, a stranger.

Oh, by the way, I still consider myself a ‘success story’.

Regards

Jim

My youngest grandaughter Beth, age 6 months.

LOSSIEMOUTH AND SPAIN

2011-03-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Lossiemouth golf trip came and went without incident. The two golf courses of the Moray Golf Club are truly magnificent. I don't detect a great deal of design; they were laid in landscape that was already there, no major earth moving undertakings. I can see this becoming an annual family outing. What made the courses even more interesting was the fact that they sat on the edge of Lossiemouth airbase. During the second round on the Monday, the airbase was particularly busy with Tornado training operations. The noise was incredible as the Tornados did their 'touch and go' appearing to be only feet above you head as they passed over the golf courses. One thing I did discover is that my capacity for beer and curry is not what it was. In fact, I was in my bed by 9:30pm leaving the two youngsters to do what they do (they were in bed by 10pm).
Our trip to Nerja in Spain went reasonably well despite the fact that in 30 years of travelling to Spain it was a week of the worst weather I can remember, rain, wind and cold, in fact, only one good day to speak of. We still managed to visit Malaga, Torremolinos, Ronda, El Chorro and the nearby lakes, Granada and the Alhambra (my favourite) and various other places too numerous to mention.
Our hotel, the Riu Monica, was a cut above, better than I remember it from 20 years ago. Great food, friendly efficient staff and a comfortable room, what more can one ask for.
The food was so good that I now need a regime change according to my wife. I had always thought it was my medication that made me gain weight, but she has finally convinced me that it's the amount I eat that’s the problem. So I'm on a diet as of Monday. We'll see!!
Absolutely nothing to report on the TN front, which was the original purpose of this blog.

GOING TO NERJA (BUT FIRST, LOSSIEMOUTH)

2011-03-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'm off to Lossiemouth with my sons for a couple of rounds of golf. My eldest son absolutely raves about how good both Moray Golf Club courses are, the Old Course and the New Course. Somewhat worryingly, he gave me two dozen golf balls yesterday. I've inferred from this unsolicited gift that the courses are rather tight and difficult. We play the Old Course on Sunday and the New on Monday and drive home after the second round. I'm the designated driver. Our accommodation is in nearby Elgin where I have a room of my own. My wife managed to convince my sons that an economy family room for the three of us was not worth the saving as I am a noisy sleeper (snorer). So the plan for tomorrow is golf, curry, couple of beers and bed. Its good fun when the three of us get together which is not often enough. Maybe that’s why I enjoy it so much.
Yesterday, I booked seven days in Nerja in East Andalusia, Spain from next Friday. It’s a very posh hotel which we've been to before and we always said we would go back to. So here we are 20 years later making our grand return. I've also hired a car for the week and intend to visit Granada, Malaga, Seville, Rhonda and a couple of other places that may take our fancy when we arrive. I've paid for additional baggage so that I can take number one camera kit rather than my compact.
On the TN front there is nothing to update, things are still exactly the same as the last post. I'm still seeing the neurosurgeon on 23rd of this month.

APPOINTMENT

2011-02-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

I have an appointment with a Dr Suttner, consultant neurosurgeon, at the Southern General Hospital on 28 March. To be honest, I don't know what to expect. I'm still pain free, have little side effects from the meds and the only things that let me know that I still have TN are the crawling sensations on my face, tingling numbness on various parts of my body, twitching which is becoming more pronounced and my memory of the last 12 months. I can't see him offering me surgery given the fact there is no reason to and I would refuse in any case. Who knows, the pain might never return (in yer dreams big boy). So open mind and we'll see how it goes.
I went to Portencross the other night for the best sunset in the world. It turned out to be great that night. When I arrived there was a photographer, female model and a load of kit already on the pier and some fishermen/women happily going about their business all totally oblivious to each other. Oh, and me scrambling about the rocks, and I mean scrambling. I managed to slip and fall into a rock pool which was about two feet deep. I was not fully in it, but enough to be embarrassed about it. A fellow photographer who was nearby asked if I had hurt anything, ‘only my pride’ I replied. So wet up to the knees, I grabbed the shots below.

LEE FILTERS

2011-02-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

The Lee filters which I ordered last October finally arrived on Tuesday. For those who don't know what filters are, they fit on front of the camera lens and allow you to take longer exposures than would be normally possible. In the case of the 'Big Stopper' filter, it reduces the amount of light entering the camera by 10 stops and allows you to take really long exposures in daylight.
Yesterday was a beautiful day. I dropped my wife and her friends in Glasgow for a girlie day out and headed for the snow covered Glen Coe. When I arrived I was surprised to find that the only snow was on the highest reaches of the mountains. I stopped at Buachaille Etive Mor, the 'most photographed' mountain in Scotland due to its setting and symmetry. I was also surprised to find eight other photographers there. Form an orderly queue for the best spot please. I finished the day off at Portencross on the Ayrshire coast, around trip of almost 300 miles.
I'm really pleased with the filters; I should be a £370!!
On the TN front, still no pain, the only indication I have is the occasional mild crawling sensation on the left side of my face. I'm still on high doses of meds with no apparent side effects. I received a call from Jo at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow which is the neurological hospital for the area I live in. I have an appointment there on the 23rd March.