Just dropping in to give an update, just had my first post op MRI it should have been done 6 months ago, but been doing the head in the sand trick. Anyway results came back all OK no sign of the tumour!
Those of you who have just received the bad news, my Doc summed it up very nicely, first off brain tumour sounds grim, it's actually a non cancerous growth off the inside of the ear. He said I should look at it like a broken leg, you will be scuppered for a few months, but will bounce back. There will be a few issues but these will lessen over time.
I remember reading all past posts and people kept talking about "issues" and skirted around what they really meant, that terrified me. So heres a bullet point of Pros and Cons after surgery
Cons:
As you are now dependent on your eyes for balance, so discos, cinemas, dark alleys etc. are a bit of challenge ( like walking on a water bed) , I even found walking on small black and white tiles and stationary escalators gives me the wobbles. So if you want to impress the ladies try your cooking prowess rather than the dance moves.
Noisy rooms, any space with background noise, music, people talking, aircon etc are a real pain, very difficult to understand what people are saying. I normally just tell the people on my deaf side, not to be offended if I totally ignore them. Recently I was a ladies coffee morning and we all had to stick name tags on, I wrote deaf under my name, which was a good conversation starter and everyone quickly figured out to stand on my left.
Lift lobby, those "pinging" lifts without an indicator light major pain in the butt, just have stand in the middle like a tennis pro waiting for the serve.
Every time you get a runny nose, ear stuffiness, headache its instant panic, you end up running around the house hands flailing shouting "Brian fluid leak" or its growing back like an uncontrolled soufflé. I just had a head cold last week and was convinced I could feel a walnut growing, but the MRI just confirmed it was all in my head.
Skiing at night and in white-out condition same problem as discos above. Driving etc not effected.
Pros:
Yup there are some, my golf has improved! maybe because I don't suddenly look up to see where the ball has gone or my stance is changed for better balance ?
I can now read, write and face backwards in a moving car, before revolving restaurant used to make me feel green.
When I explained to the tax man I had a tumour, he let me off a big fine for getting my tax submission wrong, ( It was the daft accountants fault)
If you ever need a excuse to buy a home theater system with full tactile transducer setup, this is it. Explain to partner the cinema issues above. You need the butt shakers as your hearing is a bit iffy. While you think a single speaker system is all you need these five speaker set up works well, as you turn your head sound is coming from all around you, admittedly in mono.
When you sleep in a noisy hotel, plane, boat etc you just sleep on your good ear in total silence.
For some people, me included Tinnitus will always be there, turn it into an advantage, mine sounds like crickets in a tropical rain forest, so when you are sitting at some dull meeting cover your good ear and imagine you are on that tropical paradise island.
Thats about it, I will check in every now and then and if any one is visiting Singapore drop me a line, we can compare scars, mine is almost invisible and I have a buzz hair cut using a zero setting.
Thanks to all the regular here who work tirelessly helping all those who find themselves in the same boat, which is getting bigger and bigger should have a word with Noah to see if we can borrow his.
Love to the LA-Aners
Take care all
Rick
