AN and face pain

[Lupy]

Hi everyone,

I am a new 29 year old female Melbournian here. I was diagnoised on the 20th of January with a 1.4cm AN on the left side. I am waiting on a final date for retrosigmoid surgery with Briggs and Kaye at The Royal Melbourne. The date will probably be June. However, recently I have started getting weird sensations in my left cheek area. I assume this is the tumour growing? I have heard that more face pain can lead to greater chances of facial nerve damage. Can anyone confirm or correct this for me?


Thanks! 

[Jim Scott]

Hi, Lupy - and welcome, although I'm sorry you have a reason to be here (your AN diagnosis). 

To the best of my knowledge (I'm not a physician) if a growing acoustic neuroma compresses the 5th cranial nerve, that can generate facial pain.  Facial nerve damage is a variable that is affected by how much and for how long the affected nerve is impacted by the tumor.  Often, once the AN is removed, the facial nerve can recover.  I trust this will be your experience. 

Please stay connected with this site and these forums.  We have other Aussies on board and we want to support you as you go through your surgery and ultimate recovery.   

Jim

[Lupy]

Thanks Jim!

I am sure the answer to my question would be on here somewhere but it would probably take me a month to find it! There is so much information on here it is great! A little scary at times but great none the less. I will definately staying on close contact with this board as I go through my healing journey, any support at the moment is invaluable!

[bell]

Hi Lupy,
Welcome to the site and sorry to hear you have joined us.
I am 41/2 months post op.
I did not have any facial pain and sensation before surgery, but I was biting my mouth and tongue often.  Also I swear my nose was changing shape.
My tumor was growing on nerve and I am at a 3 on Brachmans facial paralysis scale.  Dr. said I should improve to 90% and can take up to 2 years for recovery.  I think it all depends on the location of the tumor as to how much damage is done.  I had good tone after surgery so the dr was opptismistic for good recovery, but it is a long wait.
Hopefully you will have a good outcomne after surgery and good luck.  Reasearch alot and the best of luck to you,  Bell 

[bpham]

Sorry to hear about your AN.  I had the surgery in Oct 2007 (translab).  Before the surgery, also on the left side, half of my face was almost paralyzed.  There was numb pain to the back side of my head/ear.  What saved me was the courses of steroid pills that the dr. gave me.  If you feel that your face has pain and you're losing control of that part, you should ask the dr. to give you steroid to control the swelling of the tumor.  I took steroid until the day of the surgery.  After the surgery, it took about 2-3 months to recover.  Of course just like any drugs, you might experience some other side effects, however, in my case, it saved my face so it was worth it.

Let me know if you have any question and hope that this helps.

[MissMolly]

Hi Lupy,
In the past couple of weeks I've been experiencing a 'pulling' feeling on my left cheek that comes and goes.  I feel most of the time like I have a sinus headache, but only on the left side, the AN side.  I hope you are wel and I'm sorry you have to join this little group.  I've found it to be extremely helpful and hope you do too.

Molly