The VA approved a surgery. The doctor felt that trying a glycerin injection might do the trick. We went to Little Rock, Arkansas to a large VA hospital.
After Shae was admitted, they did the regular blood tests and scans. He spent the night there in preparation for the morning surgery.
As I walked along the halls and passed by the rooms of so many brave soldiers, my heart sunk. So many of them did not have someone there to watch out for them. They were alone and at the mercies of the institution.
Shae had a cough at the time of his surgery. We let the doctors know this the day before and reminded them of it before they put him under.
Glycerol was injected into the cavity where all three nerves meet, but to where it should only numb the lower trigeminal nerve.
The doctor had only performed this surgery five or six times before this so was extremely inexperienced. Yet, we felt we had no other options. Shae had to try it.
After the glycerol was injected he had to lay still in an upright position so the glycerol would go into the right area. As he came out of anesthesia, he began to cough. This caused the glycerol to spread outside of the intended area. There fore, the numbness missed its target of his lower jaw and instead spread across the side of his head. This numbness lasted for months.
Strike One
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