Laugh Your Face Off
Imagine waking up one day to what feels like someone stabbing you repeatedly in the face, each strike more intense than the last- in your forehead, your jaw, your eye, your lips, your mouth. Then the shocks start coming, what feel like volts of electricity coursing through one side of your face. And when the storm quiets, and the stabbing stops, you’re left with a dull, aching pain that persists until the next attack, leaving you vulnerable to any trigger- a simple breeze, a light touch, a bite of food, a kiss from a loved one . . .
That’s what life has been like every day for Pat’s wife, Amy, since 2001.
Amy is one of roughly 400,000 people in the US who suffers from TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA (tri-GEM-uh-nul nuh-RAL zhuh), a nerve disorder doctors classify as one of the worst pains known to mankind. Others simply call it “the suicide disease.” Trigeminal neuralgia strikes without warning, there are few truly effective treatments, and it is absolutely incurable.
That’s why Pat and Amy started “Laugh Your Face Off,” a comedy fundraiser to benefit The Facial Pain Research Foundation (facingfacialpain.org). After a successful debut in 2015, the event has raised over $2.65M.
This is the only group in America dedicated solely to finding a cure, with 9 novel and unique research projects that are either currently being funded by FPRF, or were the beneficiary of seed money from FPRF. If any of the treatments being tested are successful, they have the potential to impact not just those who suffer from trigeminal neuralgia, but those who suffer from ANY nerve pain.
Please visit our “Laugh Your Face Off” website to learn when the next event will be, and how you can get involved.
