October 15, 1973

The more I wrote, the longer this became. I hate when that happens, so I just stopped.

I was five on this date, I’m not 100% sure of the date, but I’m positive it is correct. The night of October 15, 1973 changed my life. I can recall bits and pieces of it and place all the clues together; of course, my beloved Miami Dolphins would play a part in it.

The fateful night started off with dad, mom, my sister, and I gathered around the family TV. We watched two Hogan’s Heroes reruns on WCIX, it was the family tradition. 8 o’clock came and it was time for bed.

Sometime during the evening my parents awoke me and took me outside to see a UH-1 Iroquois helicopter hovering over our next door neighbor’s house. We would see the thundering Hueys all the time while we fished in the Everglades, this was the first time I actually saw one this close. I smiled as I watched it hovered. It flew away; mom and dad took me back in not knowing of the excitement that would be taking place.

Hours later I fell out of bed, hitting the hard terrazzo bedroom floor with my forehead, splitting it wide open. My parents rushed me to Hialeah hospital. I remember lying on a table with a cloth over my face. I could see light filtering through the cloth as the doctor talked to me. I didn’t feel a thing as he stitched up my wound and talked about the Dolphins. The night was bad, but the future ramifications of the fall would be excruciating.

I didn’t go to school the next day. I had a big bandage plastered over my forehead as I watched from the dining room as my mom waved the school bus away. I’m guessing around 10 o’clock that morning she stated that the Miami Herald paper didn’t show up; she wanted to read up on the Dolphin game. She called the Herald and they sent a paper to the house.

My Dolphins wore aqua and played in a stadium I didn’t recognize. Years later I did, it was the old Cleveland Stadium. I searched the date and the game was played on October 15, 1973. I already knew Miami won 17-9.

One year later I started to stutter in class. I wondered what was wrong with me. I couldn’t stop. I still stutter to this day, though not as bad. The stuttering hurt, but I would rather stammer the rest of my life and not have Trigeminal Neuralgia.

2009 I discovered my neck didn’t bow, 2011 I didn’t know how severe my injuries were until I saw a new chiropractor. Along with my neck not bowing, my jaw was severely out of alignment, which I already knew, TMD, temporomandibular joint dysfunction. However, I didn’t know my jaw stuck out 55 millimeters more than what it should. The fulcrum of this painful axis was my left TMJ; the inflammation conspired with all these to drive my trigeminal nerve insane.

The past 38 years became nearly crystal clear. I knew I never should’ve played football, the pain I felt when tackling was near blinding, but I thought it was normal. The headaches made sense as well as the agonizing pain behind my left eye and becoming dizzy while singing in church. Months later I was officially diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia and things were finally crystal clear.

I am now on week seven of my first twelve weeks of intense therapy. I can feel a difference. The TN pain is not as strong, but it seems I’m getting more headaches. I can live with those in the short time, a TN/ATN attack is pure misery.

Don’t stop believing, hope floats eternal.