Anyone has had radiation after surgery?

[carolinafreire]

I had surgery at UCSF last month (January 13, 2025) to remove a 3cm acoustic neuroma. The surgeon removed 98% of the tumor to preserve the vestibular and facial nerve. This was agreed before the surgery, as I also have a hearing loss on my "good side", unrelated to the tumor. The recovery is going well and the surgeon is now recommending one session of CyberKnife (in 3 months) to prevent the tumor from growing back. He says one session is enough to treat and prevent regrowth.

Has anyone had a similar experience that required radiation after surgery?

Thank you,
Carolina

[Swissdude]

Hi Carolina,

My first post here.  Saw your post and felt I must reply!

While I have not had the radiation treatment yet, I will in 3 months time.  I am in Switzerland and at the hospital in Lausanne where I am being treated (CHUV), this is standard practice.  They leave a little bit behind in order to ensure the nerves are not damaged.  I just had my 3cm AN/VS removed on 17 Feb, only 5 days ago with good results - have some hearing left in my left ear, balance is OK and no facial nerve issues.  It took 9 hours and I still feel in a fog which is annoying, but each day is better.  The retrosigmoid scar is quite impressive!

My surgeon told me the remains of the tumor "ball up" after a few months making it easy to zap with radiation.  They would normally use the gamma knife to do it, but now that importing radioactive substances into Switzerland is illegal, they cannot get the cobalt isotope for the GK machine and we will have to use another method. 

Rest assured you are not the only one.  And if you ask me, removing most of the tumor surgically and treating the small remainder with radiation makes good sense! It allows for the nerves to be preserved more easily.

Good luck!
Andy

[carolinafreire]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for your reply. It’s reassuring to know that others are in a similar situation. Our tumors were the same size (3 cm), and my surgery was one month before yours. I agree—it does get better with each passing day.

It makes sense to remove most of the tumor surgically and treat the small remainder with radiation, but I wanted to see if others had a similar experience. I appreciate you sharing yours—it gives me more confidence in moving forward with the radiation.

I wish you a speedy recovery!
Carolina