KatieRose Hamilton just underwent her second brain surgery to try and find relief for trigeminal neuralgia.
When KatieRose Hamilton has a headache, she can’t just take an aspirin and lie down. Instead her headaches, which are related to a condition called trigeminal neuralgia, leave her incapacitated, unable to do anything but lie down in a darkened room, barely able to move.
KatieRose's mother, Megan Hamilton, said when her daughter is suffering from these intense headaches, there is nothing they can do for her.
“When she has attacks, it is sobbing, kicking her feet, moaning, begging God to make it stop,” Hamilton Said “It’s awful. As her parent, I would lay there and sob beside her.”
KatieRose suffers from a disorder called trigeminal neuralgia (TN), which affects the cranial nerve called the trigeminal and leads to intense, sometimes burning, or stabbing pain. The trigeminal nerve is one of the most widely distributed nerves in the head and these painful episodes can last for hours, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Usually the pain is caused by some kind of artery or vein compressing the nerve as it pulses. Eventually the pulsing can damage the nerve leading to intense pain.