GET OUT!!!

Is official....I am giving Mr. T (grape in my melon) the official two week notice tomorrow.

I am traveling again for two pre-op appointments on Thursday back in NYC. I am doing the jig that we don't run into any hurdles this time.

AN 101

I have tried and tried but am unable to upload my actual MRI pics at this time. This one I found looks very similar. The white "mass" that is sort of shaped like a head of cauliflower is the tumor. The structure that its pushin on is the brainstem. The function of the brainstem is:

The brain stem plays a vital role in basic attention, arousal, and consciousness. All information to and from our body passes through the brain stem on the way to or from the brain. Like the frontal and temporal lobes, the brain stem is located in an area near bony protrusions making it vulnerable to damage during trauma.

Functions:
Breathing
Heart Rate
Swallowing
Reflexes to seeing and hearing (Startle Response).
Controls sweating, blood pressure, digestion, temperature (Autonomic Nervous System).
Affects level of alertness.
Ability to sleep.
Sense of balance (Vestibular Function).

Observed Problems:
Decreased vital capacity in breathing, important for speech.
Swallowing food and water (Dysphagia).
Difficulty with organization/perception of the environment.
Problems with balance and movement.
Dizziness and nausea (Vertigo).
Sleeping difficulties (Insomnia, sleep apnea).

Skinny here I come....

So I was thinking.............They think that the tumor has been around for a while but since I didn't start having hearing problems till I got married I am guessing it starting to grow larger about 5 years ago. So 5 years ago I was a size 10. Some of the side effects of an acoustic neuroma is excessive tiredness. So if you are thinking what I am thinking....................this tumor must weigh about 100lbs in my head. So I am so expecting to be that much lighter after the surgery!!!! You all thought I was going to say that since I was so tired I couldnt exercise....thats the logical response but not the correct one! I am going to ask my specialists next week if I should go out and buy new clothes for my new body!!!! What do you think he will say to me???

Were not in Kansas anymore.....

So my husband and I are looking into hotels by the hospital so he can be close by to me for the first few days. I guess one of the ways you know you were brought up in the "boondocks" is when you go into slight heart failure when you find out that its going to cost around three hundred dollars a night to stay in the city. We just went on vacation and spent alot less than that for our own Condo on a lake in Florida. That place even came with its own alligator.

Nothing

I really don't have to much to say these days. I have been trying to not obsess too much over the ...well you know (whispers--"the Tumor"). I have been back to work since last Thursday. I have been getting rides from my wonderful co-workers and my wonderful dad. Besides the driving I think I am pretty much back to my normal routine. So yes, I just admitted that since I am not obsessing over the .....T-thing that my normal life is really too boring to blog about. I have been getting alot of questions regarding my hair and how much I am going to have to shave . I even had a friend offer to pre-shave it for me before the surgery. Can you imagine if I showed up for my pre-op appointment next Thursday looking like this .

Help needed

So I looked up the neurologist that will be assisting Dr. Selesnick during the surgery. I think it took me over 15 minutes to read his biography. Check this out.

http://www.weillcornell.org/pstieg/

It really seems that everything is going at a snails pace now. If my vision would just go back to baseline I may be able to convince myself that I just made this whole thing up.

Just to clarify----the type of tumor that I have is 99% benign meaning that is is not cancerous.

Acoustic Neuromas
The acoustic (eighth cranial) nerve includes branches that mediate the sense of balance and head position (the vestibular nerve), as well as hearing (the cochlear nerve). Acoustic neuromas are benign tumors that arise from the vestibular portion of the acoustic nerve. Surrounding each nerve fiber are Schwann cells that form a substance called myelin that insulates nerves and facilitates electrical conduction. It is from Schwann cells in the vestibular nerve that an acoustic neuroma, also known as a vestibular schwannoma, arises. Schwannomas also may be referred to as neurilemomas, neurolemmomas, and peripheral fibroblastomas.
Acoustic neuromas occur at a rate of one per 100,000 people and make up eight percent of intracranial tumors.
Symptoms
Because of the location of acoustic neuromas, the initial symptoms of these tumors involve hearing and balance. ( I thought I was just fat and clumsy!!) Tinnitus (ringing in the ears--I only have once ina while), hearing loss(slow for about 5 years), disequilibrium, and vertigo are common and caused by compression of the eighth cranial nerve. As the tumor enlarges, it expands in the space of the cerebellopontine angle, a region near the brainstem, and the seventh cranial nerve, which controls the facial muscles. When a tumor is large enough to compress surrounding structures, it may cause headaches, facial numbness and/or weakness, double vision, nausea, vomiting, and hydrocephalus, a blockage in the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord.

Normal

Well I went back to work today. All in all I think it was a good day. I wasn't attacked by my stapler or any other object from my desk so I think things are looking up. I was called by the Neurologists office that will be assisting Dr. Selesnick. They also want me to do a pre-op with that office. So in a perfect world I could schedule these back to back and get them both done on the same day right? WRONG---at first the nurse was not very sympathetic of my geological location. I even contemplated turning the waterworks on but I think that well has dried up. It seems that the neurotologist does his pre-ops on Fridays and the Neurologist does his on Thursdays or Mondays. It tool some finagling but I ended up getting both of them on the same day.