Bad Brains Frontman H.R. ‘Looks Good’ After Undergoing Brain Surgery

In late January, we revealed that Bad Brains frontman H.R. was awaiting brain surgery on Feb. 21 to thwart a rare neurological condition, SUNCT, that resulted in headaches "so great that he yells, cries out, groans, and sobs—repeatedly, every few minutes, for most of the night." With the surgery now complete, an update on his condition has been issued.

A Facebook group, Healing Meditation for H.R. (of Bad Brains), was created by the singer's wife and caregiver, Lori Carns Hudson, as a means for fans to channel their positive messages and good vibes towards H.R. as he prepared for surgery, during the procedure and his subsequent recovery. An update states (seen below), "Thank you for your many, many prayers! Surgery went well and he looks good. Now the recovery begins."

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After this message, Lori added another post (seen below), thanking fans for their prayers over the course of the last 12 hours. She also mentioned, "We certainly have cause for celebration. However, it may take some time to see if H.R.'s surgery was successful in relieving the headaches" and that the frontman's face beamed when she read him the messages fans had posted.

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A GoFundMe page was established to help Lori with the mounting responsibilities that come with being H.R.'s caregiver and fans can make a donation here.

The crowdfunding campaign also details the severity of the SUNCT condition, explaining, "The surgery is most often performed on people who suffer from trigeminal neuralgia, which causes pain in the cheek. H.R.'s pain is over his eye, but it still involves a branch of the trigeminal nerve. This pain is described as being the most intense pain known to man, and is often referred to as 'suicide syndrome.' When medications and other treatments don't work, the last resort is surgery."

Going into further detail, the post described the procedure detailing, "The idea is that the pain is caused by a blood vessel pressing into the trigeminal nerve. In microvascular decompression surgery, a small hole is drilled through the skull behind the ear. The surgeon then cuts through the protective membrane to expose the brain and trigeminal nerve, and inserts a tiny scope to locate the offending vessel. The purpose of the surgery is to insert a barrier between the nerve and the blood vessel to relieve the pressure. While there are risks, the surgery has a high success rate."

The H.R. biography, Finding Joseph I: An Oral History of H.R. From Bad Brains is out now and can be ordered at Amazon. You can hear author Howie Abrams alongside H.R. on the forthcoming Loudwire Podcast, which will be out tomorrow (Feb. 23).

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H.R. on Brain Surgery - Loudwire Podcast Preview