Looking for NE contacts

[Seal]

Hi Jan,

Thanks for the support.    Sorry about the misquote as well, but I'm finding that my brain is not working too well these days.   I'm starting to get stabbing pain in back of the ear on the AN side, and my facial numbness is getting pretty severe.  I feel nothing on that side nor in my upper and lower teeth on the right side.      Does any of this numbness go away with the surgury or is this the future for me too along with loss of taste?     I know that the SSD is a done deal, but I'm finding this facial, mouth, & throat numbness is really getting to me.     The balance continues to go down hill as well, and fatigue is becoming a pretty big factor.      I think I would check myself in for surgury tomorrow if it was all set up.   Things are getting progressively worse by the day now it seems.      Well there is my whine for the week.    Thanks for listening.

I'm actually trying to work out an arrangement asap to cover for me while I'm down.    With this economy tanking though, the AN issue could not have come at a worse time.      The stress was already high before this all started.   

Steve

[mk]

Seal,

I was just wondering about the severity of your symptoms and their fast progression. The rate at which things keep cropping up may not be related to actual growth of the AN itself, but rather by what is called "tumor related edema". This is inflammation of the surrounding structures, caused by the presence of the tumour. For example in my case this caused sudden hearing loss (a month after I was diagnosed). Symptoms of this severity may be relieved by a course of steroids, which relieve inflammation- if you find that your symptoms are becoming unbearable, you may want to ask your doctor about this. My hearing loss was reversed after I took the medication, and I also found some relief from the dry eye (which returned afterwards).
I have another question too, when say you don't have feeling, do you mean an "altered" or "reduced" sense of feeling, or no feeling at all? I have read about many people having about reduced feeling (also called hypoaesthesia or something like that in medical terms), but complete loss of sensation? This must be very annoying.

I hope you will find your way quickly out of this mess.
Marianna

[Seal]

Hi Marianna,

Thanks for that feedback on the steroid treatment.    I'll be meeting the next doctor one week from today, and I'll be sure to bring up that possibility.      It would be wonderful if I could get these symptoms under control before proceeding with the surgery.        On the feeling question,  I would describe it as if my  entire mouth, throat, and right side face (even the scalp) is numb to the touch.    I could cut my skin with a knife and not feel it, but I  do seem to feel pressure when  pushing on it.    I still have control over smiling, closing that right eye, and moving my cheek.     So the facial nerve doesn't seem compromised, just a bit deadened.     Its as if the right side got an overdose of novacain from the dentist and has shut down my feeling on that side.     Strange stuff for sure.......

Steve