How A Toothache Led To Life-Saving Surgery
The Story of CARDEN REYNOLDS
Carden Reynolds lay incapacitated on the floor. The pain came in waves from 30 to 60 minutes. Yet a few weeks later, his episodes began lasting 2 hours, 4 hours, and then 5 hours at a time. He never expected he’d ever consider suicide. But the pain was so excruciating he didn’t know what else to do.
5 months earlier, Carden visited his dentist for a toothache. Every time he bit down, he’d get sharp pains in his face. Unfortunately, the dentist couldn’t find anything wrong with his teeth. But before long, Carden ended up in the ER. After sobbing on the floor in extreme pain for over 30 minutes, the ER staff told him he was having pain associated with TMJ. They gave him some muscle relaxants and wished him well.
The next day he had another flare-up and immediately went to Urgent Care and said, “um, these TMJ muscle relaxants aren’t working at all!” Carden searched online for other explanations for his symptoms. He came across a condition called Trigeminal Neuralgia. The Urgent Care staff agreed that this could be what caused his pain and gave him a prescription that helps in most cases.
Within a few hours, his pain was gone. Or so he thought…
For a few weeks, he felt relieved, until little random bursts of pain in his face returned. Yet, since they were only occasional, he figured he could live with it, which he did for about 3 months. And then the medication became less effective.
Gradually it got so bad that Carden couldn’t work. He lost 20 pounds in a month. He spent hours at a time lying on the floor, mouth open, drooling, and completely motionless. He was so scared to move and trigger lightning bolts of intense pain.
After a terrible night with 4 different flare-ups, he returned to the ER. But he felt like the staff wasn’t taking him very seriously, as if he was being overdramatic. Until they asked him to open his mouth for an exam. It immediately caused a flare-up. And when they saw the debilitating nature of the pain he experienced, they realized just how bad it was.
With such a severe case of Trigeminal Neuralgia, they referred him to Dr. John Edwards for specialist treatment. Dr. Edwards’s schedule was packed for the next 2 or 3 weeks. But Carden just couldn’t cope with the intensity of the pain anymore. He told Dr. Edwards…
”I won’t be alive in 2 or 3 weeks if you can’t see me sooner.”
Dr. Edwards called back later that day to inform him that they could get him into the operating room the next day. They performed a Micro-Vascular Decompression (MVD). The reason Carden experienced such intense pain was due to an abnormally large vein rubbing up against his trigeminal nerve. Dr. Edwards and his team put a small hole in the back of Carden’s skull and wrapped a tiny sponge around the trigeminal nerve, relieving the intense pain.
The procedure literally saved Carden’s life. In his own words…
“Surgery was a huge relief! I have a normal life again.”
Carden, his wife, and their two small children are so grateful to Dr. Edwards and his team. Their expert and kind care during what was the most difficult time of his life meant everything to them.
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