For most people, a sharp pain lasts only a moment. For Weaverville resident and author Erika Conrad-Wess, one unexpected burst of facial pain in 2004 became the beginning of a journey that has lasted more than two decades.
Now, Conrad-Wess is sharing that journey in her new memoir, “NERVE: A Memoir of Chronic Pain, Medical Trauma, and Surviving the Healthcare System.” It is a deeply personal account of living with one of the most severe chronic pain conditions known to medicine — and discovering that hope can exist even when a cure does not.
Her story begins at what should have been an ordinary homeschooling conference. Without warning, she was struck by an intense bolt of facial pain. Doctors eventually diagnosed her with trigeminal neuralgia, a rare neurological disorder often described as producing electric shock-like pain in the face. Later, following brain surgery intended to relieve the condition, she developed anesthesia dolorosa, an even rarer and incurable form of neuropathic pain…