minimally invasive endoscopic surgery

[mysticfem]

      Hello,
         Has anyone had experience with endoscopic surgery for an AN? I'va been reading some vintage messages from Ixta and Chopper who had ANs removed this way. It sounded like a good choice for them. They have not contributed to this forum since 2007 (I believe, since I've seen nothing more from them), so I don't know how they're faring now. Has anyone writing these days had any experience with this, or any information about it?
    Thank you. Sylvie
       an 3cm. left side. radiation: April-May 2007 - translab scheduled for Sept. 27,2010

[leapyrtwins]

Sylvie -

the only doc I've heard of who does endoscopic surgery on ANs is Dr. Shaninian (I think that's how you spell it) @ the Skull-Based Institute.

Endoscopic surgery isn't widely done - most docs still do "conventional" surgery on ANs.  One of the reasons for this is if the brain starts to bleed during the surgery - not common, but not unheard - the doc can't see what is going on and he/she has a hard time stopping the bleeding.

That said, those who have had endoscopic surgery @ SBI have been very happy with their results.

If you want to get in touch with Ixta or Chopper you should send them PMs (personal messages) through this Forum.

Jan

[KarenE]

Hi Sylvie~
I just had my tumor removed in July endoscopically at the Skull Base Institute that Jan mentioned.  Mine was 3.1 cm.  I am very happy with the procedure and after care.  I talked to a few other people who had the same thing done before me and they were happy as well.  You can call or email Eve at the SBI and she can put you in touch with former patients.

Hope that helps!
Karen

[mysticfem]

    Thank you for your replies, Jan and Karen. I'll get in touch with Eve at SBI. My biggest concern is my previous radiation which has had an effect on surrounding brain tissue which can be seen on my recent MRI, so I'll have questions for Eve re that.
Jan - how do you send personal messages through this forum?
I'm new to ANAUSA and very much appreciate everyone's comments. It's so good not to be alone and isolated with this thing.
   Sylvie

[lori67]

I could be wrong, but didn't Jerseygirl have this procedure done (as well as a few others if I recall correctly)?

I'm sure she'd be willing to discuss it with you - that is if I'm right about her having had this done in the first place....   

I'm so helpful, huh?  Anyway, welcome to the forum! 

Lori

[iluuvpups]

Sylvie, to send a personal message to someone, you click on the little cartoon bubble icon under their name in their post.  If you hover your cursor over the little icons on the left side of someone's post, you'll see that one of them says "Personal Message". 

[jerseygirl]

Hi, Sylvie,

I had surgery at SBI in 2007 for AN re-growth. It went amazingly well and I am really happy with the results. I have no facial paralysis, only small, receding patch of numbness on my face and can do anything I want: walk, talk, eat, handwrite, etc. My energy is back also. In other words, I am fully recovered. The most important thing is : no tumor or scar tissue showing on the MRI.

I had a difficult situation and, thankfully, very   few people on the forum have it worse. My regrowth was in all the wrong places but Dr. SH managed to remove it without lasting damage (although things weren't working properly initially). I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

                                Eve

[leapyrtwins]

Sylvie -

you can also just click on someone's user name and it will open their "summary".

At the bottom on the summary there is an option to "send this member a personal message".

Jan

[mysticfem]

   Thank you everyone for all the helpful comments and suggestions and tech help.
   Karen - I hope your nerve surgery went well on the 30th and that you're recovering well.
   Eve - I'm so glad this worked out so well for you - you've been through a lot!
   I've already spoken with Eve at SBI and received a lot of good info. I asked about the possibility of brain bleeding during endoscopic surgery and she said that conventional doctors feel that is a risk if the usual endoscopic instruments are used. Dr. Shahinian has designed his own, which she says are produced by NASA, and so she says bleeding does not happen and has never happened. It did reassure me.
BTW, does anyone have an idea of the cost of this procedure?
   Sylvie

[ixta]

If you want to see minimum bleeding, check out the actual surgery he does.
I posted a vid of mine awhile ago.
He uses suction at the same time he uses the microsurgical equipment.
Warning.
Queezy stuff ahead...dark humor too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVQl7YxAXk0