Getting ready to commit to surgery

[sunny]

Wishing you the very best outcome...
Many people that you don't even know are thinking of you and sending good thoughts.
I'm one.

Take care,

sunny

[Sheba]

Hope all goes great today for you, you are in super skilled hands !!

I wish you could have "excused yourself" from some of the stress around cleaning house, shopping for kids summer clothes, etc - all that would have worked out fine - but I guess now,  post surgery, you can feel more relaxed that not a single thing was neglected !!

Will be watching for your post op update !

[polaka12]

Thinking about you. Hope you are doing ok after surgery. Take it one day at a time. It's not an easy road but you have all of us who have been through it. Sending Hugs!! Lori

[NEbluebells]

Hello friends, this is Mr.Nebluebells.  Nebluebells is 48 hours post op and is doing great...is starting to walk around.  She retained facial nerve function and they were able to remove most of the tumor. The doctor said they left a little sliver of tumor but it's too small to even be recognized on the MRI.  We could tell the doc was a little disappointed to leave a small piece behind, but said it will likely shrink on it's own because the blood supply is gone. She says thank you to all of you who are sending your thoughts and prayers.  The team at House Clinic are amazing. 

[ANGuy]

Thanks for taking the time to pass along the good news to us!

[Greece Lover]

This is great news. Mine was Monday. Still very dizzy. Hope to hear from her when she is at fuller strength.

[NEbluebells]

Thanks all.  Next update - doing several laps around ward.  Still dizzy, but no vomiting which is nice. Hoping I can stay in the hospital another day. Still require pain killer every 4 hours.  Very little appetite. No tinnitus, knock on wood. Overall I'm very thankful that I was able to come to the house Clinic. The staff has been excellent and I would them in a heartbeat. I was a little disappointed they had to leave a sliver of the tumor... One more thing to worry about.

Greece, are you at home now doing your Rehabilitation?

[Greece Lover]

Yes, I came home Friday. Things  generally going well. Still very dizzy. Other than that my main complaints are a plugged sensation in my ear and some throbbing when I stand up or change position. Trying to stay positive. Somehow I never vomited! I'm just taking Tylenol now. And stool softener LOL.

I'm so sorry they had to leave a sliver of tumor. Did they say why? Was it on facial or auditory nerve?  Mine was pressing on facial nerve pretty hard so I've got some taste disruption and a little weakness. Doctor thinks that should resolve with time.

I've been eating meals at the table and playing uno with my kids, so it's fun to get back to some normalcy.

Good to hear from you. Hang in there. I hear it gets better!

[NEbluebells]

Thanks for all of the encouragement. I think dr. Schwartz felt disappointed that he had to leave some of the tumor but he said it was microscopic. He said that he could see them on the facial nerve and they were very stuck to the nerve. The good news is I have pretty good facial function but some dizziness. Hearing hasn't changed much since I had lost most of my hearing for the surgery. I do you have the feeling of a plugged ear but it's been like that since I was diagnosed. I do get stinging headache Sensations every now and then for about 2 seconds at a time. I've been on Tylenol since yesterday and I'm happy to be done with the hard core medication. It's so nice to have the support from others that are going through the same situation. Thank you for staying in contact with me. It sounds like your recovery is going very well I hope you keep progressing. It's nice that you got to go home 5 days after the surgery. You are a Rockstar! BTW, mr.neblubells is still typing.

[Greece Lover]

I too appreciate this interaction!  I got my stitches out yesterday. Lots of throbbing from where they had to cut my jaw muscle. Right underneath the bow of my glasses. Other than that they didn't seem too concerned about anything.

I watched a movie last night that made me laugh so that was a novelty! 

How long will you stay in LA?

[polaka12]

Hope your are feeling better and stronger every day. Your in my thoughts. Lori

[Sheba]

NEBluebells & Greece Lover - congratulations both, sounds like great outcomes!!  So glad you are past the surgery and well into your initial recovery !

I'm scheduled for retro June 23 - my doc said no scuba post-surgery so we went for a quick scuba trip (Cozumel, per the surgeon's recommendation!), just got back last night.   it was fantastic and at least I can still snorkel after surgery.   Also did some Zip Line rides over the jungle - not sure I will want to do that post surgery !! the climbs up to the launch platforms made me just a tiny bit dizzy, possibly my AN caused that.

Must say I am a bit nervous already for the surgery.  Helps a lot seeing your post-op updates ! 

[Greece Lover]

Good luck, Sheba. I've had a rougher couple of days. May have overdone it and have a low fever and more tired and mild headache. Feels now like I'm stuck in the mud. But I'm elated that things went well. The dizziness is a lot to get over. I'm glad you went and had some fun. I lived in Belize for a year, fairly close to Cozumel, so I know the beauty of that part of the world.

[NEbluebells]

Hello friends, first time really posting myself since surgery. I'm 12 days post op and feel mostly amazing. I have been off the steroids for 24 hours which has helped immensely. Those were very difficult to handle.  I think i have what is called Survivor's Euphoria.  I haven't ever taking recreational drugs before, and very few pharmaceutical drugs, for that matter, but I have just an amazing sense of almost constant euphoria.  It's wonderful.  I really thought I was going to die during the surgery.  I know this was not reality, but no matter what anyone told me, I was 100% convinced I wasn't going to wake up.  When I woke up, I was just so happy to be alive, there really are no words for this awesome feeling of being simply alive. I don't know how long it's going to last-maybe it's coming down a bit as the steroids pass out of my system, but over all I just feel amazing.  Like I look out at the blue sky and it is so awesome.  And then I eat a peach and it tastes like the most delicious thing that has every entered my mouth.  It is like what the media portraits heroine or maybe LSD to be...I really don't know because I have never experienced anything like this before....the closest thing that is like this is childbirth (in my experience).  Like once you have the baby and you have all these amazing warm and happy thoughts and you could just look at your baby for 72 hours straight and only think about love and all the good things in the world.  It's kind of like that, except no adorable baby.  Also instead of your lady parts hurting you are super dizzy. I realize I sound like I may be on drugs, but I'm not - I'm down to 3 tylenol in a 24 hour period, which I think is really good.  The only other thing is a probiotic type thing they gave me to keep taking another week because the steroids can make you get ulcers so it's to protect your tummy from getting ulcers.  I did ask the doctor if he thought the euphoria was from the steroids and he thought it probably was due to the steroids and all the stress that is now relieved from having completed the surgery.  I'll make another post with more thoughts specific to the past 12 days, but over all I just wanted to post how well I feel. So glad to have done the surgery!

[Greece Lover]

So glad to hear you are doing so well. I'm still so dizzy. Frustrating!