But his father, former Sen. Herman R. Deleon Guerrero, said his son will be able to talk again when he returns home soon.
What seemed to be a terrible toothache five years ago when he was still in Maine was actually trigeminal neuralgia — a chronic pain condition that causes extreme, sporadic, sudden burning or shock-like pain in the ear, eye, lips, nose, scalp, forehead, teeth or jaw on one side and alongside of the face, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The intensity of the facial pain can be so physically and mentally incapacitating that even mundane activities such as facial washing, eating and talking could be very painful.
“This problem has been with him since he was in Maine five years ago. He had a terrible toothache so he had a root canal to fix it. He experienced the same pain in Seattle and thought it was just a tooth problem. He had another dental check up. A neurologist also saw him and diagnosed his disease as trigeminal nerve disorder,” former Sen. Deleon Guerrero told the Variety.
“He couldn’t talk. His mouth was shut down and the pain was really tremendous so the doctor sent him away. He underwent a series of brain tests and nerve tests at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Manila,” he added.
One in every 15,000 people will have trigeminal neuralgia and most of them are women 50 and above.
On Feb. 22, Rep. Deleon Guerrero underwent a brain surgery at the base of his skull.
He underwent another surgery to ease his face and jaw pains, and two of his teeth that served as nerve antennas were also removed.
“He’s doing okay now. He was discharged to the (out-patient-department). He will be there for the next week or two,” said the former senator who said he calls his son every night.
The former senator took over the operations of his son’s office since the operation.
He urged his son’s constituents to visit his office if they need legislative assistance.
