10 month follow up today

[william5822]

We are happy to report that my husband had his 10 month follow up today. No sign of tumor regrowth. Unfortunately there has not been an signs of facial paralysis getting any better. The facial nerve was left intact. Both the neurosurgeon and ENT surgeon that he saw today suggested he go ahead and start looking into further surgery. They suggested just doing a facial lift so that he would not have problems drooling as much and to just give his face some lift. And also a surgery to reconnect the nerves with the tongue nerve. I do not think he will go this route. so we are looking at the lift part. Has anyone here done that and did you find it to be beneficial to you.

[Everyone1226]

I am 8 months post op today and still have facial weakness.  I am very discouraged.  My ENT surgeon wants me to wait at least a year.  I will be curious to see what you decide.  I to am told they did not sever the facial nerve but my tumor was attached to it and they had to peel it off.  I have a lot of dizziness and unbalance as well as the facial weakness. It has been a long haul, much longer than I had anticipated as my tumor was only 9mm, but they tell me that it does not necessarily matter the size of the tumor it is where it is located on the nerve.  I will follow your posts to see how you make out, I cannot offer suggestions to you.  I also drool and my eye is much smaller than the other one. 

[william5822]

Hi there Everyone1226.
He is still not sure what to do at this point. I do work for an ophthalmology practice...which one of our doctors inserted the gold weight and did a tack of his eye....we are considering letting him do a brow lift on that left side so that his eye brow will stay out of his line of vision.
Yesterday he was having severe tooth pain on the left side which we were very surprised. About 2 weeks ago he was hit in the head at work with a lead pipe which resulted in 7 staples. He did not feel the pipe hit him nor did he need medication when they inserted the staples. No feeling at all. So I am hesitant to do to much just yet with the facial surgeries if he is showing signs of feeling here and there. It's such a hard decision to make when there is no defined rules or ideas of recovery.

We laugh about it often. He asked what we would do if he had the brow lift and his face came back....I said we would just go lift the right side and he would be wrinkle free for a 54 year old

[mandy721]

For William and Everyone -
My husband had severe facial paralysis after his surgery.  At nine months his surgeon suggested reanimation surgery, but Ken would not consider more surgery unless it was for a life threatening issue.  We found out about Jackie Diels, a neuromuscular facial retraining therapist, through this discussion forum.  We were in touch with her at about 9 months, and Ken started working with her sometime after that.  His face has improved significantly.  If you were to meet him, you might think he has a slight asymmetry , but nothing that screams out.  However, his eye has not improved.  He's had a number of procedures, including a weight and lower lid tuck.  There is a slight difference, but no more than what I see in most people when I look at faces.   Ken's right side of his mouth and face are numb too. I encourage people dealing with facial paralysis due to nerve damage to get in touch with Diels.  She has been and continues to be an important resource for Ken.

[nancyann]

Check out the scleral lens for dry eye - it saved my life - I wanted my eye removed due to the constant burning, but I found out about the scleral lens & now I just put it on in the morning - I don't have to put lubricant in every 1-2 hours during the day anymore.  I still put in lubricant at night with the NITEYE bubble bandage to keep my eye moist & protect it since it doesn't fully close.  My scleral lens dr. is Kenneth Maller, Ft. Lauderdale, FL - he is amazing.