Hi all,
It's been awile since I've posted, but I had a 2.5cm partially removed last October which resulted in loss on tumor side hearing, dry eye, facial numbness (still can't feel the left side of my face) & balance and coordination issues. Since surgey, the only things that have improved are my balance (still not all the way back) and my dry eye (simply because of hourly drops, I still don't produce tears.) Anyway, my surgery was a rough experience with Brain sweilling which resulted in bad things including stopping the surgery early & about a month in the hospital. I now have residual tumor, about 8mm left and per my last MRI & appointments, my Dr's informed me that with the next MRI in December, we will be planning stage 2 of the surgery to remove the rest of the tumor. I guess this will be less life & death, because the tumore is no longer embedded in my brain stem, but the major risk this time is facial paralysis which scares the hell out of me. Granted, my face is numb right now, but I can still blink & close my eye and I have no droopiness. The Dr's have told me that the chance of permanent facial paralysis with this surgery are about 4%-6%, but naturally I am skeptical because prior to my first surgery they said the chances of death were under 1% (I almost beat the odds there), the chances of major swelling & needing a shunt were under 5% (I had both), there was a 50% chance they could save my hearing (lost that coin flip), facial paralysis was under 10% (I'm still numb) and they told me I'd be in the hospital anywhere from 4-7 days for the surgery, (I was in for 31 days) ... my intention isn't to scare anyone, I'm probably a special "against all odds" case, and yea, I'm a 29 year old male, but this stuff is scary for anyone. It's sobering when you wake up in the hospital and you can't get out of bed on your own. I guess my question is if anyone else had stage 2 surgery and what I should expect going into and coming out of it? I also have my whole story (12 pages) available by email if anyone is interested ... sryan@villagegreen.com
Thanks so much!
Scott Ryan
2.5cm AN removed 10/7/04
Providence Hospital, Southfield, MI
Dr. Pieper & Dr. LaRouere
