None of us asked or ever wanted to have facial pain. Facial pain is one of the worst chronic pain conditions someone could have and can experience; it’s life-changing and scary. It’s often cruel and can even feel like it steals things from us.
But facial pain can also bring beautiful things with it, too. What, you may ask?
I’ll tell you. Friendships.
I recently told a kind and dear sweet friend who also has trigeminal neuralgia (TN), “I hate TN, but I’m so glad it led me to you.”
I never would have chosen TN for myself, obviously, but TN has chosen friends for me. Those friends who also understand this pain, the fear, the struggle of finding a diagnosis, and often the challenges in life that come with having facial pain. I even have friends with TN who are young patients who understand the serious impact it has had (and still does) on me as a young patient.
Friendships within the facial pain community are special, precious, and unique. You bond over the most painful conditions and find some of the most wonderful people. Many of us have formed deep friendships through online social media groups, and some of these friends have lasted for years. Some of these beautiful humans we have never met in real life yet hold some of the most special places in our hearts and world.
Some of these friends pass through and shine their light for a season, and others stick around for the whole journey. These wonderful people are often our strength on the days when we feel like we would drown from the pain and darkness that frequently accompany facial pain and chronic illness. You don’t feel like you must hide or explain the pain to these friends, because they, too, understand.
In the past, I would say nothing about facial pain was beautiful; now, fifteen years in, I know there is, my facial pain friends.
If you have facial pain, friend, then you know exactly what I am talking about; if you don’t have one yet, we are here for you, friend. You are not alone on this journey.
