Hi bthomas,
To help your family understand, you should take at least one of your parents to see the neurologist with you, and ask the neurologist to explain the condition to them. If there has been anyone (outside of my dear husband) who understands this condition, it is the doctors and neurosurgeons. It's strange, but my friends seem to understand and sympathise much better about this than my family. Go figure.... and the support on the TN boards has been great, so stick around and keep talking, ok? I know it seems strange to talk to complete strangers, but they don't stay that way for long.
Lily