Mary Rice’s hectic lifestyle, filled with work, pursuing a second master’s degree, participating in 5K events, and capturing picturesque beach scenes, went to a halt in January 2018 when she was struck by a sudden, agonizing pain in her face.
Living in Toms River, New Jersey, at the time, Mary, then 38, found herself grappling with hundreds of daily “electric zaps” on the left side of her face and forehead, confused by their origin. Eventually diagnosed with atypical facial pain and a variant of trigeminal neuralgia—a relentless chronic pain condition—Mary was forced to stop working and seek disability benefits.
