My 27-year old daughter has bilateral trigeminal neuralgia. She was given that diagnosis tentatively by an emergency room doctor in the small hospital here on Martha’s Vineyard, who said she should go to Boston to see a specialist. This was last January.
We took her to a neurology clinic. The resident doctor concurred in the diagnosis, ordered an MRI, made an appointment for my daughter with a neurosurgeon. The attending physician, (i.e. the resident’s boss) came into the exam room, did his own exam and said “you don’t have trigeminal neuralgia” —his conclusion based, evidently, on my daughter’s age — about 30 years younger than the typical person with that condition. But the resident was correct, and several weeks later my daughter had microvascular decompression therapy on the left side of her head. A second operation is scheduled for October. The resident was Joel Salinas. Shortly after my daughter’s surgery, Dr. Salinas completed his residency and became a full-fledged doctor. Then this article appeared in the newspaper. Suddenly everybody wants him to be their doctor. Alas, he must turn most of them away. But not my daughter. He is her neurologist. This article is all true. Salinas is awesome. We got lucky. jrs > On Jul 15, 2015, at 9:24 PM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote: > > Fascinating. This is the first time I am hearing about mirror-touch > synesthesia (as opposed to the seeing colours kind). > > Udhay > > http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/is-mirror-touch-synesthesia-a-superpower-or-a-curse > > This Doctor Knows Exactly How You Feel > A rare condition causes Joel Salinas to experience other people's emotions > and sensations. Is mirror-touch synesthesia a superpower or a curse? > ERIKA HAYASAKI JUL 13, 2015
