It has been some time since my last visit to the forum. I had middle fossa surgery last December to remove 11x10x17 AN called "Timmy the Tumor." Because the facial nerve was splayed (stretched out) over the half of the tumor that was available from that angle, and because they didn't/couldn't realize that until they got into my thick skull, my (very good) surgeons got what they could of the tumor but elected to not proceed further, in order to preserve the facial nerve. I had told them prior to surgery that preserving facial nerve function was very important if at all possible. I chose middle fossa originally to attempt to preserve my remaining hearing in my right ear, but unfortunately I lost that hearing through the surgery. (The good news is that I've saved lots of money on the stereo-surround-sound system I'll never have to purchase.) My right-side face was paralyzed for 12 hours after the surgery but amazingly "snapped back" to normal function within that first day. With no right-side hearing left to save and no immediate dangers given the tumor size, I decided to watch and wait, at least for a bit. I've had 2 post-surgery MRIs and the tumor has not grown materially. Unfortunately, the anxiety of (a) having Timmy the Tumor still in there, flipping me the bird, and (b) not knowing when the almost-certain surgery (I'm 43) would come, has been worse than I thought it might be. After meeting with my surgeons today, and subject to family discussion/approval, I am going to schedule my surgery for a date in November or December. The translab approach should give the surgeons a much better opportunity to get at the tumor, hopefully with no damage to the facial nerve. I realize I'm bringing to a head the risk of facial paralysis that I could avoid by more watch and wait. I'm nearly certain this is the direction I'm going but would appreciate any thoughts/comments. Thanks!
