The boy in this photo is my 16-year-old son, Zach Woodley . Zach woke up on Match 15, 2017 with a severe chronic headache. He described his pain level at about an 8 out of 10, 24 hours a day every single day. He did not have an injury that we can pinpoint that would have caused it & no one could tell us why, all of a sudden, our 12-year-old had such a severe headache. We went to many doctors who tried a lot of treatments/medications. Nothing worked & no one could figure out how to make him better. He was finally diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia in 2019. That was when we were referred to Dr. Eric Williams & Zach's life began to change.
Dr. Williams told us about Nerve Decompression surgery but wanted us to try some other things first like nerve blocks/different meds. He wanted to make sure we exhausted all of our other options before opting for surgery. We followed his advice but nothing worked. Dr. Williams did one final nerve block & pinpointed the exact origin of his pain & said we could proceed with the surgery if Zach wanted to.
So, on February 24, 2021, my son, Zach went into surgery. Dr. Williams assured us that the surgery should make him feel better but it definitely would not make him worse if it didn't decrease his pain. The next day, which was one year ago today, Zach was sore from his surgical incisions but woke up without a headache & has been headache free every day since. He does not take any medication & was released from Dr. Williams' care over the summer.
Dr. Williams did not recommend contact sports anymore so Zach decided to join the drama club. He was a set builder for the fall play & got a lead role in a winter play, thus the picture. He is now part of the ensemble for the spring play, Cinderella. Zach got his driver's license this fall & his grades have improved tremendously. He went from B's & C's to almost straight A's. He is looking forward to taking his girlfriend to the prom this spring & is going to the state competition for Future Business Leaders of America.
We cannot thank Dr. Williams enough for what he has done for Zach. There are not enough words to explain how grateful we are for Dr. Williams & the surgery that allowed my son to finally fully enjoy his life.