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Thinking a lot about surgery and the facial nerve

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anissa:
The waiting part between diagnosis and surgery is the worst, my mind went crazy with possibilities and what-ifs.  I can't say "don't do that" because I know how hard it is.  I have a post floating around here with this same topic, my "obsession of the week" and the conclusion just came down to - what will be, will be.  There are no guarantees, not even any good probabilities.  I just had to dig down and say that this is my life, I have a brain tumor, I'm going to do my treatment of choice, and whatever happens, well, I'm still gonna be me, and sometimes life is hard.  Once I came to grips with that I felt peace.  I guess easy to say that now, I didn't have any paralysis/weakness but immediately out of surgery my Dr. told me basically to expect it and that he would be very surprised if I didn't have some sort of facial paralysis.  The Drs. did leave a smidge of tumor behind because they couldn't get it off the facial nerve and again, what will be, will be.  Its the only mindset I can have without driving myself completely mad.  Best wishes with your treatment and recovery and peace be with you, too.

Jim Scott:
Hi, Helene in Sweden ~

As others have written, your fears are normal but ultimately, unproductive.  The eminently practical Jan (leapyrtwins) offered some very cogent advice concerning the element of risk in everything, including AN surgery, of course.  As you must realize, the mortality rate for AN surgical patients is about the same as my chances of being crowned King of Sweden.  Well, close, anyway.  ;)

For whatever it may be worth to you Helene - Ernie, Jan, Marci, myself and others - some of us with large ANs - had the retrosigmoid approach AN surgery and didn't suffer any noticeable facial paralysis or weakness.  I trust this will be your experience, too.  Please try not to allow fear of the unknown to control you.  Many prayers will be offered for you and many folks will be rooting for you on your surgery day.  :)

Jim

JohnnyDiaz:
I just went in for my 6 month check up and everything looked fine. I feel great and just want to encourage you that being fearful is normal. I set goals for myself and thought about what if I dont do anything about it.... That kept me going. Try not to focus on fear and remember alot of us have gone through this type of surgery and hey we are here to encourage you and pray for a great outcome. Let us know as you get closer... we will be thinking about ya!

sgerrard:

--- Quote from: catlover on April 14, 2009, 05:14:29 pm ---I am also thinking about what happens if I don't wake up!!!

--- End quote ---

You wouldn't get a knit hat, for one thing.  :D

There is a chance of facial paralysis. Yup. But we take chances all the time; just driving on the freeway has a certain risk. Your chances are better with a smaller tumor, so if you are going to get surgery eventually, the sooner the better. Think about how good you will feel if you wake up and don't have facial paralysis, and focus on that. And if it does happen, well at least you'll be in good company.

I'm not sure I have said Hi to Alicia yet, so I will also say welcome to the forum, Alicia. :)

Steve

tenai98:
I just had my surgery and went thru the same motions...its not fun...I woke up to no pain, no paralysis, no taste issues, no nothing...I feel very lucky...I AM lucky... I did wonder day after if I would do it all over again..yes...
JO ;D

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