ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Post-Treatment => Topic started by: bri-82 on July 01, 2011, 10:03:39 pm
-
Hello everyone. Its comforting to find an online community of AN patients. I'm 2 months post treatment. I had a 4.5 cm AN mostly removed on 5/3 at Washington Hospital Center in D.C. The operation took 13-14 hours and I was stuck in the hospital for 15 days. I lost my hearing completely on the affected side along with my balance. My facial nerves were anatomically preserved and functional, but I still have facial weakness/paralysis after two months (there has been some improvement).
I've been spending a lot of time at the outpatient rehab center in physical therapy and speech/language therapy. I still have trouble balancing when my eyes are closed (or whenever I lose visual cues) and I look funny when I talk or laugh. I don't really have problems with bad headaches anymore but I do get them occasionally. I also frequently get a stiff neck around the incision.
I'm due for a follow-up MRI in roughly a month. Since all the tumor couldn't be removed I have to get regular MRIs from now on.
I'm looking forward to reading some interesting posts and reading about the experiences of others.
-
Congrats on your positive outcome and recovery thus far! It all gets easier from here. The more you walk, the more active you are in general (with appropriate rest), the more things will continue to improve.
I get lots of MRIs. I am still in the every six months club. I kind if enjoy them as they give me a break from my overly busy life and force me to be still for half an hour.
I hope things continue well,
Tod
-
Hi ~
Thanks for posting. I can relate to you in one respect; I also was diagnosed with a 4.5 cm AN ( in 2006). My neurosurgeon, heeding my strongly-expressed desire to avoid facial and other complications, decided to 'de-bulk' the tumor, i.e. reduce it's density and allow it to collapse on itself. He also severed it's blood supply. He then teamed with an AN-savvy radiation oncologist to 'map' 26 FSR 'treatments' intended to destroy the remaining tumor's (now approximately 2.5 cm) DNA and, effectively, kill it. In short: it worked, better than I had a right to expect. No facial issues or headaches and only minor balance problems which I managed to surmount with some 'homemade' exercises which consisted of mostly walking on uneven surfaces and doing whatever was difficult to do until I was able to do it fairly normally. Today, 5 years later, at age 68, I'm good. Pretty much back to normal excepting being SSD (my hearing was lost prior to the surgery so no loss or gain there). My last MRI (2008) showed tumor necrosis (cell death) and the beginnings of shrinkage. I'm very conscious of any changes and will have another MRI if and when I notice anything different. My doctor concurs. I hope you can soon surmount your post-op issues and move on to a normal life. We're here to help and support you - so don't hesitate to ask!
Jim