Hi,
This is Denise, I am posting for Julie, who wanted me to keep ya'll updated. She had the best of all possible outcomes. The surgery was just about 5 hours. They discovered it was an acoustic neuroma and not a facial schwanoma (i know i spelled that wrong). The tumor was around the facial nerve, but not part of it. So the nerve was left intact and healthy. The atypical part - was that the tumor had grown into the cochlea - perhaps because of her bone structure? They removed all of the tumor. She has some minimal facial drooping, which could increase a bit in the coming days BUT they expect a complete recovery as the nerve is in good shape. She was doing well tonight, sipping juice and complaining of pain at the site. She's had a lot of morphine but remains clear as a bell - thinking maybe she was hitting some drugs on the side and has a tolerance we didn't know about?
Just kidding! She was beginning to doze and rest a bit and although the pain was still there she seemed to be able to sleep in brief moments. I did tease her a bit, they kinda left some gel in her a la' something-about-mary style!!
she's wondering if ya'll have any advice about dealing with the pain at the site? i'll check here in the morning before i go to see her.
ya'll are great and julie talks about what a difference you've made at this difficult time. Thanks for being there for my best friend!
- denise
dlmoore83@yahoo.com
