General Category > AN Issues

I guess you CAN read too much....

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stoneaxe:
Being informed is good. You have to make the decision as to what is most important to you because there are tradeoffs whatever way you go. I too chose proton therapy after lots of exhausting research...though there wasn't as much readily available in 2003. Despite all the research it ended up being the wrong choice in the long run. Regrowing 4 years later and lots of issues in the meantime. It's been better since getting it removed the 2nd time around. All you can do is add up the pluses and minuses to the different approaches and decide what best seems to fit for you.....then roll the dice. Based on the data alone I still feel I made the right decision but my result was on the bad side of the bell curve.

Jamie V:
Hello all, I as well was pretty freaked out by all the negative stuff I read on the internet about AN's.  I just wanted to let everyone know there is good news.  I was diagnosed with a 2CM AN back in December.  I got multiple opinions and all agreed that due to its size and location next to my brain stem, it needed to be removed surgically rather than using the gamma knife.  I got referred to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and was assigned to Dr. Rafael Tamargo as my neurosurgeon, and Dr. Wade Chien as my ENT doctor.  They were both incredible!  I was in the hospital for about a week after the surgery, and in bed for about 10 days when I got home.  I had some severe pain, nausea, facial paralysis and dizziness for a couple weeks afterwards, but I am finally off all the meds.  I am under 3 months out from surgery now, back at work, jogging 2 miles a couple times a week and swimming 1000 meters once a week.  I did lose total hearing in one ear and my vision is a bit blurry if I move my head too quickly.  The headaches I read so much about haven't happened, I just have a little fullness feeling in my head which is much less than I had before the surgery.  I haven't taken any pain meds in over a month.  It definitely could have been worse, so thank goodness for my outstanding doctors and the great care I got at Johns Hopkins.
Before I went in for surgery, I got myself in probably the best physical shape I've been in in my life.  I did cardio and weights 5-6 days a week for the 2 months before, and felt great going into surgery.  I think of all the things you have no control over in the recovery, I strongly believe that since I was so healthy going in, it made my recovery go that much quicker. 

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