Today is our fifth day in Toronto. It’s starting to look like I’m going to need to create a non-profit business called something like ” The Help Heal Jenn Foundation”!! I can set up fundraisers and maybe a 5km run and other events to raise money to pay for my laser therapy – lol!!  I’m clearly joking. However, the costs do keep increasing. There are more and more costs going onto mom’s (👵) visa. I’m pretty sure that soon she and dad (👵 & 👴) will be able to travel around the world on the Aeroplan 💳 she’s collecting!!  It’s pretty crazy.

We brought the rental unit home, well not ‘home’ really, we brought it to our hotel. (Did I say this yesterday??) I’ve been asked for information and updates on the laser therapy treatments I’ve been receiving. They are really hard to explain! So, I’m going to give you a simple explanation…if I can!

There are four steps (kinds of lights) to the treatment:  The first is red light generated by 180 LEDs. The second step is an infrared band of LED’s, which penetrates deeper into the body.  (These first two steps, which are delivered by an array of 180 LED’s, are not actual lasers and can be used by the patient themselves. This is what we have rented.)The third step is the use of a red laser probe. Followed by the final step, a much more focused infrared probe, which can deliver more power and can go as deep as 22cm into the body.  These last two steps can only be performed by a trained technician in a controlled, clinical environment. Everyone in the room must wear dark, protective glasses (my mom 👵 has worn these dark glasses a lot this week!)  When they use the laser probe on my face, I have protective goggle-type things on. Similar to the ones that people wear for fake-and-baking (for those who choose to pay for cancer!)

The reason that all of this works is: “Light is absorbed by a variety of cellular components in the tissue being irradiated. In essence, light energy is transformed into biochemical energy resulting in the restoration of normal cellular function and morphology.” (Quoted from Meditech’s pamphlet about Low Intensity Laser Therapy.) Obviously this is a direct quote and doesn’t sound like a simple explanation at all!! For even more detailed information, go to http://www.bioflexlaser.com and/or see Dr Doidge’s book “The Brains Way Of Healing.” In the fourth chapter of his book he writes about Dr Khan and the laser therapy he utilizes. Actually, this is an amazing book (not just chapter 4) that I have only just began reading. This is where my mom (👵) found out about Low Intensity Intensity Laser Therapy.

Dr Doidge talks about how the brain can heal – duh!!! I just said the title of his book – lol!! And the word I’m about to write will change my life. Maybe not overnight, maybe not in a week or a month, but it will happen. It likely will not cure my Trigeminal Neuralgia, but with persistence, practice, exploration and the strong strong desire to take charge of my body and my pain, it will help. It will!

Neuroplasticity 

“Neuroplasticity is the property of the brain that enables it to change its own structure and functioning in response to activity and mental experience.” (From “The Brain’s Way of Healing”, by Norman Doidge, M.D.) The laser therapy is changing and healing my brain with light energy!!

To help with research and treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia please go to http://www.tnnme.com (Trigeminal Neuralgia and Me) to sign a petition to have the World Health Organization (WHO) add Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) to their “Health Topic List”!     

Hopefully one day I’ll get it right, or at least have fun, while about it I write!!