I first opted to try medications but none of them helped. I tried Botox and the first treatment did nothing other than remove a few wrinkles. The second one left me unable to close my eye and the already dry eye got drier. Also, my mouth drooped. I looked worse than I did when I had the spasms and I hated having the injections. They were painful to me (I think he used too large of a needle). At this time brain surgery was not an option for me so I decided to live with HFS and make the best of it.
I went to three different opthamologists, the first one ignored me, the second put in tear ducts that really helped the dry eyes and the third one did extensive testing and told me there was nothing wrong with my eye and he suggested I have a MVD. As timed passed, I began having trouble seeing well enough to drive and the pressure and ringing in my ear was driving me crazy. I also was beginning to have self esteem problems from the stares and the questions. I tried my best to deal with it, but I was going to lose my secondary insurance coverage soon and decided to go ahead and have the MVD surgery while I still had insurance. I bought a computer, took a crash course from a friend and learned how to access HFSA. I could not believe all this knowledge was out there and most doctors were not aware of it. My hairdresser's mother (Deb Doyle) lives in my area and her daughter introduced us and she told me about her MVD and that she had it in Houston. This is only two hundred miles from home and better fit my budget than other doctors further away. I made an appointment with Dr. Parrish and had MVD surgery March 10, 2003.