By Jude Green 2015
Living with a tumour in your head...
The site all about my brain tumour journey, with excerpts from others, useful advice and an active blog...
Lori, 50years, California
Back to work in 6 weeks!
Diagnosed 2011 2 cm acoustic neruroma
Surgery and Radiotherapy
I was diagnosed with an Acoustic Neuroma the summer of 2011. My tumor was 2 cm x 2 cm in California
At the time, I was just turning 50 years old and the Dr suggested having the tumor removed by surgery because of my age and not knowing how quickly the tumor it might grow. The option of radiation was never discussed.
I had surgery on November 11, 2011. I was in the theatre for 9.5 hours. Since the tumor sits on my 7th and 8th facial nerve, they had to be extremely careful with the nerves or I would have total facial paralysis. Like Jude they left a small piece behind.
After surgery, to look in the mirror at myself I thought I looked like I'd had a stroke. This is normal but I found I also had strength issues with my left side as the tumor is that side.
I was in the hospital for 4 nights and then was transferred to a rehab facility for an additional 4 nights. At rehab, I had physical therapy to increase strength on my left side. I was off of work for a total of 6 weeks.
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I have lost hearing in my left ear but continue to hear white noise. My left eye does not completely close and the left side of my mouth droops. I have a crooked smile. I continue to have balance issues and nerve pain on the left side of my face and tongue. I take 300mg of Gabapentin at night for the pain, this helps tremendously.
Recently, I had to switch surgeons as my Dr moved away. I was referred and when the dr looked at my annual MRI compared to last year's MRI he noticed a slight increase in the residual piece. He highly recommended hitting it with a small amount of radiation to make sure it didn't continue growing. He also said that he would have never performed surgery on me and could have treated it with radiation. I can't look back at what's happened I must look forward but interesting??
I went ahead and met with the radiologist getting fitted for a "mask" for my head to keep me still. I have to say it wasn't very pleasant! The radiation lasted less than 20 minutes and there was no pain, no noise, just lights. It was a better experience than getting an MRI.
My results from the radiation after 6 months were positive. The tumor remained the same and it will probably continue to shrink over time, have another MRI scheduled in 2017 to look. It will never completely go, but it's not growing.
I just celebrated my 55th birthday and continue to live a normal productive life. I am a Director of a company that requires a lot of energy and giving and I have a 13 year old son and a wonderful husband and need to be around for a very long time!
