TNNME: TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA and ME
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  • Intl TN Awareness Petition
  • Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness
    • TN/FP Resources >
      • TN: Working Together >
        • United States Resources
        • Ireland Resources
        • United Kingdom Resources
        • Australia & New Zealand Resources
        • Netherlands Resources
        • Finland Resources
        • Canada Resources
        • Brazil Resources
        • Why Does Pain Get Worse When a Storm Is Coming?
        • TN & Social Security Disability Help
  • International TN & FP Ribbon
    • Countdown Clock
    • Intl TN Awareness Videos
    • Intl TN Magazine
    • Poems by Intl TNers
    • Cherokee Hat Trick by Brian Whitaker
    • Intl Arts 4 a CURE
    • Photos of TN & Facial Pains
    • Author Brian Whitaker: Going Down Short Story >
      • The Pharmacy by Brian Whitaker
      • Gabapentin
      • Shakespeare My TN Buddy
      • Having a Good Time-TN Version
      • 1126 Tomcat Way Full GM Edit
      • Author Brian Whitaker: The Rat
      • There's an elephant on my face
      • TN The Pain Awakens
  • TN Awareness Products
  • What is Trigeminal Neuralgia?
    • Facial Pains Disorders
    • Battle Scars of TN and FP
    • Research 4 our CURE
    • Stop It Coffee For A Cause
  • 2022 Light Up Teal 4TN
  • 2021 Light Up Teal 4 TN
  • Our 2021 TN Day
  • 2020 Light Up Teal Trigeminal Neuralgia
    • Lighting Request Info
    • Trigeminal Neuralgia: Why Light Up Teal?
    • Our 2019 TN Awareness Day
    • 2018 Intl Light Up Teal
    • Our 2018 TN Awareness Day >
      • 2017 Light Up Teal 4 TN & FP
      • 2016 Light Up Teal 4 TN
      • 2016 Oct 7 Intl TN Day Events
      • 2016 Intl TN Awareness Day Events
      • 2015 Light Up Teal
      • 2015 TN Day Photos
      • 2014 Light Up Teal
      • Oct 7th 2014 Intl TN Day Photo >
        • 2013 Light Up Teal
        • Betsy Alexander's TN Story
        • Artist Tara Shuey Story
        • Maureen Stone Story
        • Artist Tara: Loved one’s perspectives…………
        • Miriam Fraser's TN Journey
        • Honoring the Taken
        • Rebecca Thorpe Story
        • Nikki Samuel Story
        • Holley Pesina TN Story
        • Susan Wiffill Story
        • Daniel R. "Bob" Snodgrass
        • Frank Skoviera Story
        • Kristina Pelly-Filocamo Story
        • Lagi Leau Story
        • Karen Brigham Story
        • Jennifer Rodgers Houghton Story
        • Dawn Raye Winner
        • Ron Blair Story
      • 2016 Race to Save Face
      • Children & Teens with TN
  • TN: Media Center
    • TN Proclamations
    • Open Letter: Dentist and Oral Surgeons
    • TN & the ER ROOM
    • Open Letter: ER DRs
    • AN OPEN LETTER TO DOCTORS
  • To WHO
    • Hello WHO >
      • TNNME (Toni) Story
      • It's ME on TNnME 10/7/2017
      • 9/21/2016 TNnME Press Release
      • Living in the moment
      • My TN Symptoms
      • Hormones with Trigeminal Neuralgia
      • Trigeminal Neuralgia and Me
      • Cluster Headache Links
      • (CH) Abortive & Preventive treatments
      • Cluster Headache
      • Contact Form
  • Be Strong
TNNME: TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA and ME

Rebecca Thorpe Sharing her TN Story


​Itnaf: Rebecca Thorpe Story

Rebecca_Thorpe_Trigeminal_Neuralgia_Story

Hello my name is Rebecca and I'm a TNAF!
I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia and Occipital Neuralgia on April 10th. 2011 when I was 38 years old.

I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I had a tooth infection but it felt as if it where in each of my teeth on the bottom right side. The pain would come and go for days until I finally ended up in the emergency room. I was one of the lucky ones to have been diagnosed very early on, most wait many years being told it's everything from bad teeth to just in our heads.

Even though I was lucky to have a name of this disease, I had a hard first year as the pain came and went for no apparent reason trying to figure out my pain triggers. No one knew what Trigeminal Neuralgia was and if they did, like the doctors and nurses they sure had no idea what it felt like.

Then I found support groups on Facebook and became even more depressed talking with others who's disease has progressed making my early stage disease look like a freaking walk in the park. "Was this going to happen to me too was all I could cry!"

It took another year to accept my future as bleak as it looked but I needed to do something, I couldn't just sit around and wait for disaster to strike.
So I googled Trigeminal Neuralgia and started to read everything I could find from books to medical journals.

By a twist of fate I ran across a petition that at the time had less than a couple hundred signatures created by TNNME. This petition was to a place called The World Health Organization and they where asking that Trigeminal Neuralgia be added to a thing called a health topics list. This peeked my curiosity wanting to know what would happen if it was added, I found out that it would mean every place in the world would have to report to them any cases of Trigeminal Neuralgia which would give us much needed statistics as to how many people are affected along with funding for research and education.
This sounded easy to accomplish cause after all Trigeminal Neuralgia was voted the #1 most painful condition known to man kind so how could they not add it... Well it seems it's harder than anticipated cause with over 12 thousand signatures they still haven't added us.

So I found and called this TNNME person thinking her name was TNNME and it turns out her name is Toni and she along with a handful of people had created not only this website, a petition but had made an official awareness day too... I remembered thinking who is this super woman and how can she do all this while suffering the way that I do and how much more could she accomplish with some more help?

Since joining forces with TNNME I have: been on the news, been in the local papers, created a human awareness ribbon, created a tri-fold brochure that to date over 15 thousand are in waiting rooms all over the world, spoke at a lions club luncheon, created about a hundred awareness designs used on various Social Media sites and run the Zazzle TNAwareness store where all profits go to The Facial Pain Research Foundation.
So that's what makes me an awareness fighter...
Alone we are rare, together we are strong! 

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