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Teens with AN -did you have problems with irrationality before or after surgery?

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pattibobatti:
Goodmorning,

My goodness, you and your son have been through so much.  I don't know how well I would be doing if my child had to have the tumor instead of me.  I hope that things get easier and easier for you both.

I was reading your post and wondered if your son is your first or only child.  I have 3 adult children and my first son made bad choices I think daily!! If the teen years are a new thing for you, it can be overwhelming at times.  And to add a brain tumor with all its problems to the mix, I would be very surprised if he wasn't making bad choices sometimes.

Bruce is correct though, you know your child the best.  If you really think he is in trouble I would not hesitate to find help for him.

I will be looking for your posts and pray he will be doing better.

Pattibobatti

Jim Scott:
Hi, krmilmont:

Although no parent wants to have their child go through the ordeals of having an AN tumor, surgery and radiation, you and your son seem to have weathered the storm.  Well, almost.

I won't pretend to have anything close to a definitive answer to your original question.  Only a therapist who spends time with your son might help you both find an answer.  While the 'irrational decisions' you refer to could be attributed to the tumor and all the emotional issues AN patients often suffer during the pre and post diagnosis stage as well as after surgery and even radiation, as a teen, he could also be simply 'acting out' based on other issues, as teenagers are known to do.  His behavior might also stem from normal teenage mistakes (born of inexperience) combined with the extra stress of the AN 'baggage'.  I'm not too sure if there are any purely physical brain-related issues involved with an acoustic neuroma tumor - even a large one - that directly or indirectly impact decision-making.  However, I'm not a physician, although my wife and I did raise a now-adult son who had a relatively drama-free adolescence. 

I didn't become irrational but I did become grouchy after my diagnosis and especially after my surgery.  I simply hated being 'watched' (by my infinitely patient spouse) and being considered 'sick', when I felt pretty good and recovered quickly.  However, I have almost 50 years on your son, so I doubt my experience is germane to his situation.  However, a few of the parental posters on this forum have 18-year-old children that were diagnosed with large AN tumors (and suffered many complications - but recovered) who might respond to your question with more relative experiences.  Lets see.

I hope your son continues to recover and that the days of his making irrational decisions are now finished.

Jim

Kathleen_Mc:
krmilmont:
My orginal tumor was finally diagnosed at age 23, looking back I can certainly see I made some "choices" in the two years prior and for about 6 years after that were not what I see as "rationale". They were huge mistakes and I certainly look back and say "what were you thinking"? My parents were aware that I was making poor choices, they tried to talk to me but I wouldn't listen.....I became much different from what I was and what I am now.
Thank heaven I didn't do anything to ruin my future in a way that was not repairable.
There is a chemical change within the brain that can cause what would be seen as personality changes, also mood changes and then the surgery itself will also mess one's head up psychologically and chemically.
I was treated for post traumatic stress disorder but not until I looked for the help, nobody professionally saw past the chemical side of things. I have been on anti-depressants that also help with anxiety basically since but there has been some times when I have been off them (preganancy, beast feeding and presuure of a spouce that I don't need them). I don't know that I will ever go off them again, I feel terrible when I don't take them.
During the therapy sessions I dealth with the anger of being misdiagnosed for so many years (and treated as if I was a Rx abuser), anger at the doctor's who didn't listen, the fear of death (was awake on life support etc.), the grief of facial changes and general loss of quality of life, the seclusion of hearing impirment etc. It really helped but your son has to be ready.
I don't think the recovery period from this ever ends, at least not psychologically.....this experience at a young age certainly shaped who I am today....for the best and the worst.
Kathleen

chrissmom:
Hi, I'm not sure what I can add to this conversation because everyone else has made some really good points.  I am like you, the mother of a son who had acoustic neuroma surgery last year.  He had a whopper of a tumor too.  It was 5.3 x 4.0 cm. He had hydocephalus too and many problems related to the pressure on the brain stem.  He is doing so much better now but he still  has facial paralysis.

He had anastomosis surgery in October and his face is beginning to show improvement.  The upper part of the facial nerve is regenerating by itself and we see eyebrow movement there.  We travel to the facial nerve center in Pittsburgh every month and he does daily exercises.  I don't think the area around  his mouth would have shown this kind of improvement without the reanimation surgery (anastomosis).  As for the poor decision- making..he made a few but that was totally attributable to his age and immaturity.  He never suffered any cognitive problems related to the AN.  However, he is sharper and more alert now than ever and he is planning to go back to college in 2 weeks !  When I look at him, I realize how hard he has worked to get this far.  He has learned to walk again and now he runs.  He has been fishing and boating all summer.  Believe me, that is the ultimate test of the resolution of your balance problem!

Clifton:
Hi,

I am 21 years old right now, not quite a teen but still young. I have been diagnosed with AN as of 3 or 4 days ago and if anything its helped me to grow up. I was already pretty mature i assume for my age...i work at a car dealership. Im one of the top salesman here and i have great success for my age but i still partied and stuff.
This experience has taught me alot about myself and the people around me and so im just looking forward to recovering after this thing is out of my head! haha

i guess its just a person to person thing how people react to it. but just be supportive, which im sure you are, and everything will be okay.

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