[b4peace33]

Hi, my name is Felisha. I'm 38 and live in St. Louis, MO. I found this site in a newsletter from the American Pain Foundation. I was first diagnosed with Trigeminal/Occipital Neuralgia in 1996. Around 2000, I began having pain in my hands/arms and a little later Sciatic pain. I've had a Carpal Release and Ulner Nerve Transpo in both arms and a Laminectomy at L4-L5. Each surgery gave me relief but didn't completely fix the problem, though, the pain was low and I was able to function close to normal with altering some of my activities and only had the occasional pain flare ups. In fall 2005, my back got much worse. Bulging, torn discs at L4-S1. Several months after that, I began having increased pain in my arms and an increase in the frequency of flare ups with the Trigeminal/Occipital neuralgia. My inability to sit, stand, walk longer than about an hour and pain with typing all day has resulted in disability. I'm currently trying to get in to see the best surgeon in St. Louis for disc replacement. If I'm a candidate for disc replacement, I'll opt for that, otherwise I'll get a fusion. I'm hoping the other nerve problems will calm down after I fix the back problem.

I've searched for local chronic pain support groups but have been unable to find any. I'm very excited to find a group online and looking forward to meeting all of you!