ANA Discussion Forum
Treatment Options => Radiation / Radiosurgery => Topic started by: cburley1 on February 20, 2013, 10:14:39 am
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The things that sent me to the doctor's in the first place were...eye twitching which started out hit & miss & became more often & lasting longer, ringing in my ear, hearing loss & facial spasms when I laughed or cried, headaches & pressure in the back on right side of my head..I had Gamma Knife in Feb 2011..the facial spasms are gone, I still have the rest..my last 2 mri's show growth according to radiologists, my ENT doesn't get the same measurements so wants to wait till August (a year from last appt) to repeat mri & decide from there what to do...he said unless something happened before then...so here is my question..the eye twitching is picking up again just like it did before, but now, for the first time, it has been twitching continuously for a week, night & day....and I've been have alot more headaches which I contributed to constant weather changes which intensifies the pressure in my head....any ideas??????
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Hi ~
Something definitely is happening and although your ENT seems unconcerned, it's your body and you have to live with the results of your medical decisions. On that basis, I would be adamant about having a 'fresh' MRI scan to help understand why the twitching has intensified, especially if tumor re-growth has been indicated in a previous MRI. This is generally known as being 'pro-active' and it is always a good idea.
Jim
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Thank you...I'm going to call my ENT to tell them what is going on...as of today the twitching isn't as bad but is still there...this makes 8 days of constant twitching...I've never, ever had that before....it sometimes makes my eye feel like I'm looking at a strobe light....and it is really weird when I'm trying to sleep....thank you for your reply...I appreciate it
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Hello;
I agree with Jim. You need a fresh MRI. Your IAC, CPA, AN size measurements do not quite add up to reaching the brain stem. It's about 3 cm. from the interior cusp of the IAC to the brain stem. According to the measurements given, the AN is roughly 1/2 way through the CPA. Re, the twitching, the facial nerve could be compressed back in the IAC.
"1.6 cm into CPA IAC an diagnosed in Nov, 2010..gamma knife in Feb 2011...facial nerve involved, only small section going into the brain stem shows on MRI, tumor either has it pushed aside or is wrapped around it, facial spasms & twitching, hearing loss, balance off, migraines....
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Hi Cburley1
I'm checking to see if you heard any feedback? How is your eye now?
Talk to you later
Mindy
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Just want to declare up front that this is my understanding of how things work and in no way should be seen as medical advise.
First of all statistics are on your side. over 98% of people that have Gamma knife do not need treatment at 5 years.
Many AN's continue to swell for up to 2 years, this is not unusual at all. It creates a lot of anxiety but in most cases is absolutely nothing to worry about. The most important MRI's are probably the 2 year and 3 year MRI. If the tumour shows continued growth between the second and third year, especially rapid growth it may indicate failure. On rare occasions it takes 3 years for the tumour size to stabilize.
I had Cyberknife and almost exactly two years after treatment I had a bout of hearing loss.
I had my MRI a week later which was already scheduled, and what did it show? Slight shrinkage.
Symptoms can be caused as the tumour shrinks too. As the tumour shrinks the blood supply within the tumour is also reduced. This can restrict the blood supply to your nerves too.
In my view well worth getting the 2 year MRI, because continued growth at 3 years could indicate failure.
Getting an 18 month and 2 1/2 year MRI, if growth is seen at 2 1/2 years it would be inconclusive, as many tumours do grow between 18 months and two years, and do not shrink between 2 years and 2.5 years but remain stable.
Let us know how things are now
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Paul , I am interested in the origin of the stats you were quoting in this post. Are they from a journal article?