Do you have room for yet another newbie?

[bowbelle]

Hi everyone

This is my second attempt at introducing myself – I had written a lengthy diatribe last Wednesday (inspired by the Thanksgiving season) and was just about to post it when I had a lovely interruption – the very BEST kind – a phone call from your own Andrea in SLC – well – we talked for about 40 minutes or so, and for those of you who have often wondered – yes, unposted entries DO time out LOL- and I just didn’t have it in me to re-write at that time….so by way of introduction, I am Denise, my husband is Geoff and he was diagnosed with a 7mm  AN in late September.  Even tho I have never been much of a “joinerâ€?, I really did want to tell you all how very much it has meant to us over these past weeks to be able to read about your experiences and learn from all of you.  It has certainly made this journey not quite such a lonely one for although we live here in SLC area we are far away from our families – we are ex Brits, having lived here for about 17 years.

Geoff is scheduled for middle fossa surgery this very Thursday, December 4th with the very same team who did such a stellar job with Andrea – I had written to her privately shortly before her surgery and we have been communicating ever since - and as you all know she is quite a woman – we had been (unknowingly) steps behind her on this journey  - she has given us invaluable practical advise and her incredible positive energy has buoyed our spirits as we celebrate her recovery. 

Even tho I am not the patient I want you all to know how much you are helping us – when people ask us how we are doing, I tell them we have ‘whiles of peace and moments of terror’ – there have been several occasions when we have logged on in those moments and found something here that has reassured or given us new insight.  I know that we all have our own journeys and issues along the way but it has all helped in our preparation for joining the illustrious postie group.

Whilst we are hopeful for a totally positive outcome we are very realistic and your experiences (both the good and the bad) are preparing us for the coming weeks and months of recuperation and recovery – so thank you – it seems insufficient – but a very heartfelt thank you.  I hope that we too can pay it forward in time.  It seems to me that ANs (or D***AN as I like to call ours ) are pretty discerning little bugggers (if you’ll pardon my turn of phrase)- from what I see in this group; they only seem to go after bright, caring and articulate folk  - and this  is an elite group; not perhaps one that any one of us would have chosen to join but good things do come out of adversity and you are all living proof of that.

I will keep you posted  after the surgery on Thursday and appreciate all the cyber good wishes and healing vibes I feel from all of you in this supportive community – for even tho we haven’t even communicated with each other until now, I know that you will wish us well as we certainly do for each one of you – I hope that it strengthens each of you to know that you are strengthening others.

Denise

[tenai98]

Welcome Denise and Geoff to this wonderful family of friends.  Need I say more!!!
JO

[Sue]

Denise, what a lovely post and welcome to the forum.

I do like the idea that AN's target only the brightest and best of us!    I'd never thought of that!!   I"m not sure it's that picky about who it attacks, but I think we are all going to like the idea that it's only us "special" folk who have been inflicted.  

I wish your hubby the best of luck with his surgery and eventual recovery.  Is your husband going through a lot of problems with symptoms with a small AN?  Sometimes, even though they are small, they can cause a lot of symptoms.  Sometimes not. AN's are a strange thing.  I was just curious, because with a small AN, sometimes Watch and Wait is recommended.

Hang in there,

Sue in Vancouver, USA

[cin605]

Welcome.May you have a smooth surgery on Thursday & quick recovery.
We will be waiting to hear from you soon.

[MaryBKAriz]

Thank you for writing. Even though it was the 2nd time!  I will be thinking of you and Geoff on the 4th.

Take care,

Mary

[Joef]

Welcome aboard !! 

[satman]

while i dislike seeing anybody go through this thing,welcome.
i was unfortunate "no pun intended" in the fact that i found this wonderfull group of people after surgery.
this truly is a family and they make a very rough road just a little bit easier,actually a whole lot easier.
thursday will be a good day as you get this thing turned around.
you will have my prayers all the way from dallas texas.
stay poz !

[cindyj]

Hi Denise and Geoff!

Welcome - so glad you found us and were able to talk w/ Andrea before the surgery.  Best of luck on Thursday and update us when you can.  We'll be thinking of you both!

Cindy

[Debbi]

Welcome Denise and Geoff-

No doubt this will be a week of highs and lows - but I would like to wish you more of the former and less of the latter.  Geoff will be getting a little break on Thursday - I always tell my husband that surgery day was the easiest for me and the hardest for him - at least until I woke up!     It sounds like you are facing this as a team and I can tell you from my own experience that this is the very best way to get through it.  Geoff, no getting around it, you are probably going to feel pretty crummy Thursday and Friday, but then things should start to look up.  And, we'll all be here cheering you on.

Denise, do post when you can and let us know how Geoff is doing, okay?

Debbi, sending you lots of good wishes from New Jersey

[Kaybo]

Hey Guys!Glad you have found one of the best, supportive, and caring group of people around.  I will be praying for you BOTH on Thursday, as you both have equally difficult tasks that day!  May you both feel peace in your hearts as you prepare for this journey!  We'll be anxiously awaiting a report!

K

[msmaggie]

Welcome Denise and Geoff,
I must admit, after a long day w/elementary age kids, I do like being called the best and the brightest!  Sorry you had to join our motley crew, but welcome aboard just the same.  All your comments, questions, and concerns will be addressed and considered.  We may not know all the answers, but we will try to hold your hand while we find them!

Priscilla

[Jim Scott]

Denise ('bowbelle')

Although it almost seems superfluous at this point, please allow me to extend yet another welcome to our little corner of the internet.  Your message was informative as well as inspiring and will very likely motivate other 'lurkers' (those who read the messages but do not post) to join the forums and share their experiences, insights and encouragements to other AN patients.  So, thank you. 

Yes, this Thursday will be a long day for you, Denise, but you won't be alone and I'm confident that all will be well with Geoff, in due time.  Please post again when Geoff's surgery is over and you have the time. 

Thanks again for your very kind words that I know have enriched the spirits of many AN patients (pre-and post treatment) this day.  You are appreciated and please know that your husband will be in the thoughts and prayers of many, come Thursday.

I've taken the liberty of adding Geoff's surgery to the 'AN Treatment Calendar' although I only have the basic information.  Feel free to add to it, if you wish.  http://my.calendars.net/AN_Treatments

Jim
 

[wendysig]

Hi Denise and Geoff and welcome!
I'm glad you found us and that all of our posts and especially Andrea have been such a help to you both.

Geoff - Good luck with your surgery on Thursday.  It sounds like your are in excellent hands and I look forward to following your progress.  I wish both of you a smooth and uneventful journey  through the AN process.

Best wishes,
Wendy

[bowbelle]

Wow  - what a welcome!  Thanks so VERY much for all your kind words, warm wishes and thoughts and prayers – we will take them all, each and every one of them and put them to good use.

Sue, in answer to your question about symptoms, Geoff can tell you the precise day and time they started (!); he had been a professional musician (orchestral trumpet) for about 17 years before he got a “properâ€? job LOL  and continues to play locally with a number of musical groups including a local Symphony – his hearing issues started during a performance – he has described it as white noise, a “fullness’ which many here have also described and a distortion of sound not related so much to volume (although Symphony Orchestras do tend to be loud   ) but to layers of complex sound. So whilst the AN is not very large, he is not willing to live with the symptoms he already has – another thing you would probably want to know about him is that he is not a wait and watch kind of guy – it really is a good thing to know yourself and what you can live with and he really does. I know that he thought long and hard about the 3 types of approach but for him this was really the only option he felt he wanted to live with.  I must say that is one of the great strengths I have observed on this Forum – you are all so supportive of everyone’s decisions to go down their own path whatever that may be, and that is truly commendable.

We spent this afternoon in the company of the neurosurgeon Dr Mark Reichman at the IMC (Intermountain Medical Center, aka the "deathstar" for its resemblance to something out of Star Wars) and along with the Neurotologist Dr Frank Warren, we feel that Geoff is in extremely qualified, experienced and competent (and steady!) hands. The steady hands was definitely one of MY requirements!  Like many of you, I feel as tho I have earned my honorary MD in the field of Acoustic Neuromas during these past weeks and if I can ever (either now or in the future) be of any help to any of you here you have but to name it.  That’s one of the great things about shoulders, whilst leaning on someone else’s you still have one to spare.

Thanks again for the great welcome and positive thoughts; it means more than you will ever know – but then again, I think you folks probably do.

Denise

[sgerrard]

Denise,

We always have room for another newbie, even without the eloquent prose. Like Jim, I want to thank you for capturing the spirit of this forum so well. If anyone asks what makes our forum so good, now I can say "what Denise said."

Best wishes to Geoff on Thursday.

Steve