migraine surgery

Hi Tuckswife - I had the nerve decompression surgery last February and for about 3 to 4 months after surgery - NO MIGRAINE. However, after that I started to have them again, but not my normal migraine that I had suffered with for 20 years. I had my occipital region done. He is a plastic surgeon at Georgetown that calls it peripheral nerve surgery. He removed muscle from around the four larger nerves in the back of my head and removed the two lesser nerves. My migraines used to start in the back, creep up over my right ear and then plant themself in the inside corner of my eyebrow. Once it was there I was usually vomitting. I have pretty good results from Imitrex, but sometimes one dose doesn't do it and they tell you not to take more than two tabs in 24 hours - boy, have I violated that. Anyway, I went in to see my surgeon a few weeks ago and he said that since they are not traveling beyond the back of my head, that he can go back in and completely remove the four larger nerves. I will have some numbness in the back of my head but that is better than missing work all the time. I can almost never work 5 straight days. I am going in for the second surgery on 10 February. My doctor does not have to shave your head or anything, he does the surgery without shaving a single hair. He has other paitients who end up having to have the frontal or temporal nerves worked on, but he listens to you to see where your biggest problem area is and he starts there. So I am really hopeful that after this surgery I will not have to suffer any longer. He won't do the surgery on just anyone either - he does a physical exam on your head where he puts signficant pressure on certain nerves and if they are sore even when you are not having a headache, it is a good chance that you are a candidate. However, you must have had migraines for a certain period of time, tried other treatments, and are under the care of a neurologist. If you want to check out his web page - it is: http://www.drducicplasticsurgery.com/Ducic_Plastic_Surgery/Home.html He is a very good doctor and he has about an 85% success rate. If you have any other questions, I will be glad to answer them.

@Petes_wife - glad to hear you are finding relief. good luck with the second round. Did your insurance cover this? I ask because the website is "plastic surgery" and usually that is not covered