Twenty years ago, reading challenged me. So did speaking. Brushing my teeth. Sitting under a ceiling fan or being outside in a breeze. Chewing.
Reading? Yes. One branch of the trigeminal nerve lies behind the eye. Another branch goes through the cheek. The third branch is located down in the chin.
My eye hurt constantly, feeling as though it would pop out. Reading glasses were impossible because the weight of them. No matter how light, they aggravated the pain.
Don’t touch me. Isolation captured my life.
So many moments, I wondered how I could live through the next sixty seconds. I prayed to die. My mother kept vigil, refusing to accept my plight. With her at my side, my faith began to grow. One day I stopped praying to die and began to pray for a way to live. Many people today do not believe in miracles, but I got one. And now not only do I read books but I also write them.
God is good. All the time.
Another cranial nerve, my glossopharyngeal nerve, began to give me trouble. The same intensity of trigeminal neuralgia, the “glossy” nerve goes through the neck, the tongue, and the ear. Because I have gained enough faith in God’s mercy, I never prayed to die because of a glossopharyngeal episode. I haven’t had one for more than four years now.
So this is my testimony on Trigeminal Neuralgia Day, summed up in just a few words: Thank You, Jesus.