Hello all, I as well was pretty freaked out by all the negative stuff I read on the internet about AN's. I just wanted to let everyone know there is good news. I was diagnosed with a 2CM AN back in December. I got multiple opinions and all agreed that due to its size and location next to my brain stem, it needed to be removed surgically rather than using the gamma knife. I got referred to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and was assigned to Dr. Rafael Tamargo as my neurosurgeon, and Dr. Wade Chien as my ENT doctor. They were both incredible! I was in the hospital for about a week after the surgery, and in bed for about 10 days when I got home. I had some severe pain, nausea, facial paralysis and dizziness for a couple weeks afterwards, but I am finally off all the meds. I am under 3 months out from surgery now, back at work, jogging 2 miles a couple times a week and swimming 1000 meters once a week. I did lose total hearing in one ear and my vision is a bit blurry if I move my head too quickly. The headaches I read so much about haven't happened, I just have a little fullness feeling in my head which is much less than I had before the surgery. I haven't taken any pain meds in over a month. It definitely could have been worse, so thank goodness for my outstanding doctors and the great care I got at Johns Hopkins.
Before I went in for surgery, I got myself in probably the best physical shape I've been in in my life. I did cardio and weights 5-6 days a week for the 2 months before, and felt great going into surgery. I think of all the things you have no control over in the recovery, I strongly believe that since I was so healthy going in, it made my recovery go that much quicker.
