Lorenza Rodriguez had suffered with trigeminal neuralgia for over 20 years. Trigeminal Neuralgia is a severely painful condition of the facial nerve which spreads across the cheeks, jaw, lips, and nose. It causes electrical shock type of pain with talking, eating, or brushing your teeth; even the wind or AC blowing on your face is painful. It can be so bad that there are reported suicides due to this excruciatingly painful condition.
When Lorenza’s pain first started, she was told that it was an issue with her teeth, among many other things, but no treatment eased her pain. It was so bad at times that she even told her son she would rather sleep then wake-up, because being awake meant she had to face the unbearable pain. Over time, the condition continued to worsen. She turned to Grace Medical Home for help.
Meeting Michelle Cornell, APRN, at Grace Medical Home was a turning point for Lorenza. “Lorenza was in so much pain, she couldn’t talk,” remembers Michelle. “She was drooling due to the lack of control and pain in her face. Tears ran down her face. I told her I wouldn’t give up on her and she would be our Christmas miracle that year.”
Michelle continued, “Lorenza and I did not meet by chance. Little did Lorenza know that before I came to work at Grace, I had worked in Neurosurgery. It was a God sighting, for sure.” With Michelle’s background in neurosurgery, she knew exactly what medicinal and if needed, surgical treatments, Lorenza needed. Michelle was uniquely positioned to understand Lorenza’s plight and advocate fiercely on her behalf.
“I knew the medications she needed well,” said Michelle. Medical management with multiple medications left Lorenza with no relief and debilitating and even life-threatening side effects of low sodium and extreme fatigue. “And when the medications didn’t work,” said Michelle, “I also knew the surgical options she needed
When she started coming to Grace for care, Lorenza said, “I immediately was amazed by the staff, how intentional and caring they were. Michelle did everything in her power to help. Once they were aware of my diagnosis,” said Lorenza, “she said they did everything they could to find a place that would do my surgery.”
Michelle presented her case to our referral team and said Lorenza needed help and she needed it now. She knew that the painful condition was life-debilitating and in Lorenza’s case, life-threatening.
An Orlando Health neurosurgeon agreed to provide a right-sided craniotomy for trigeminal nerve decompression. Unfortunately, the surgery did not work. Orlando Health and Grace refused to relent. Lorenza had another three radio ablations of the nerve, which worked, but slowly wore off and the pain returned. Finally, she had stereotactic radiosurgery and within three weeks, the pain was gone and has not returned in over two years!
For Lorenza, this marked the dawn of a new chapter in her life. Freed from the grip of trigeminal neuralgia, she rediscovered the joy of living without constant pain. “I am incredibly grateful for Michelle and Grace Medical Home,” said Lorenza. “Before Grace, I had no life. Due to my pain, I didn’t want to talk, and did not want to eat due to the severity, but now I have a pain-free life. The pain could still come back, or it could never come back, but I am trusting God through the whole process.”
