Video of A.N. Surgical Procedure

[Crazycat]

Hi everyone!

 I recently came across this video of a surgical procedure for an Acoustic Neuroma. You'll need "realPlayer" to view it. It's definately worth seeing. To think that this is what we've all been through and/or will be going through. Just click on the link and it should open the video file.
 Ã‚                  Take care, Paul

http://media.ohsu.edu/ramgen/hosp/ent/acoustic1.rm

[Pembo]

Is there sound with this or just the video?

I was completely fascinated by the whole thing I just wish I knew what I was looking at. And that woman had no side effects, good for her!

[Crazycat]

Pembo,
             Yes there is sound. There's a narrative overlaying  a cool jazz soundtrack. Check your settings in realPlayer. Is your sound working when you boot your system up?
 I have to take off right now, I'll check in when I get back......

                        Paul

               

[Windsong]

Fascinating.!

Thank you for posting this.

Did they say or did i forget, but  i am assuming this woman's An was small in size given that we were watching this under microscope conditions.....?

She looks so great in the after pictures!

Windsong

[MMR]

As I understand it, Windsong, the surgery is always done with the operating microscope. It's very delicate.

[Windsong]

Yes,MMR.... i was only wondering how big that particular An in this video was as, yes, under mciroscopic pictures and microscopic film clips not knowing the magnification etc. size was kind of hard to determine ....


I think it's good that anyone seeing this be reminded that this op is by microscope  and that the tools used are very tiny.....

Windsong

[Crazycat]

Yes Windsong,

         She does look great after the procedure! I wish I had looked so good. I had a 5cm x 5cm growth that looked like a turnip on the M.R.I. photo so it only follows that it was much more traumatic for me. However I recovered swiftly and I'm very thankful. The neurosurgeon, Dr. Barker at Mass General had remarked to me that the growth separated from the nerve cleanly so I was lucky in that regard. But man, was I a wreck in the first two weeks of my recovery!
 When I woke up in I.C.U. I couldn't utter a word. Even though I was in total pain I could not communicate this to the nurse. I tried to narrow it down to one word: "Pain!! Pain!!" and still really couldn't do it. My sister was there and deciphered what I was trying to say and then they came through with the medication.
  I also had a feeding tube shoved down my gullet which I pulled out on my own after they freed my arms from the restraints on the second day in I.C.U. because I couldn't breath well with it in. I paid for that one though. I wasn't given any food for 4 days, surviving on the I.V.
alone. I had to prove that I could swallow food successfully without expectorating on it and developing pneumonia before I  could be fed.They eventually brought in a machine that fed a fiber optic cable in through my nostril and down into my throat to check gag- reflex and vocal response. I passed the test.
  My girlfriend was there every night and would bring me cups of crushed ice that I chewed and swallowed, so I knew that I could do it. I had to be spoon fed for two weeks before I could eat on my own. I could go on and on.....
       Everyday though was marked by some improvement. I'm out jogging everyday now and playing music in a band which is interesting given that I only have one good ear left.
      My biggest challenges are that I have a very difficult time with my handwriting now and my chops have withered away on the bass guitar but I can still play if that makes any sense - I'm not
as fast as I used to be. But the doctors say this will all come back to me if I work at it and I am!


                        Paul

[DeniseSmith]

How do i get real player? I am not very computer literate.

[josnik]

Crazycat:  Sounds like you've been through a lot. I'm glad to hear that things are going well for you--keep up the good work.

The video was very interesting. I had to look away a few times though. I have to still yet have my surgery.

[Boppie]

Thanks for posting the video again.  I studied this video at least six times pre-op.  It helped me visualize to process I was facing.

Some tips:  When you click the link, give it time to load, about 30 seconds.  If your server is slow, it will take longer.  When the Real player loads the video, I suggest you drag the screen sides in with your cursor until it looks small.  The setting for 1X viewing works fine.  Also, turn your speakers are up and leave the bass off.  If you don't have a Real Player upgrade, get someone to help you download one.

My notes:  The person doing the audio drops volume at the ends of sentences, so you have to listen hard   The surgery/video is done on a 58 year old woman, suboccipital, tumor is in the IAC.  The surgery was done via this route to preserve hearing (hers tested okay pre op). 

She looks great post op...someone posed the hair. Note, she has no big bandage on her head on in either view.

[Crazycat]

Hi Denise!

 Ã‚           To get Real Player, go to this site: http://www.real.com/  and click on the free download. You'll end up with an executable icon that you'll double click on to initiate the installation process. Just make sure you know where the icon will be downloaded to, i.e.: folder
or directory. During the download process it will ask you where to put the file and allow you to select the location. I'd put it in "program files" because that's where all the goodies that drive your system, including the operating system, are located - but it really dosen't matter.
 Ã‚   Once you've downloaded and located the file, double click on it and the installation wizard will walk you through the process - simple really.
 Ã‚ Programs such as realPlayer, Quicktime, Windows media player etc.... are great utilities to have on your system, in the event you'll come across a gem of a video like this one.

 Ã‚  To Josnik: Yes, in my case, I went through the mill. Still going through it really - many of us are. What scares me is that this malady is only one of a great number of other maladies that can afflict us as we age. I'm now 48 and up until I went through all this last year, I felt like I was on top of the world. Weight training, running 5 miles per day, eating right, herbs, no smoking or drinking.....
Where did I go wrong? It's a chromosonal crap shoot.
 Ã‚   With the size of the tumor I had it's a miracle that I never had any headaches or that I didn't have a siezure and die. My problems were all balance, equilibrium, double vision and left side deafness. Before I had the M.R.I. I thought it was M.S. or Lou Gehrig's disease  - thank God it wasn't!! I think how it turns out for us all depends on what the tumor grows on - cranial nerves and so on. Most of us automatically lose our hearing because the thing grows off of our auditory nerve - hence "acoustic neuroma". For me, my facial nerve got through intact but I continue to suffer from numbness on the left side of my face from the trigeminal nerve which is gradually improving. It feels like novocaine that never wears off. My left ear feels like it's plugged up with cement and rings contiually. I asked one of my doctors how I could have tinnitus in an ear with no auditory nerve. He said it was probably the brain, turning up the amplitude, searching for the nerve - if that makes any sense. I'm the "man with the screaming brain". I also have a shunt in my head that the doctor said will be permanent. I guess I had some serious C. S. F. build-up.
They installed the shunt a month before they removed the tumor.

I found a video clip of a band I was in during 2002. The link is below. The video is a windows media file so all of us with Windows XP should have no trouble running it. At the time I was stone deaf in my left ear and seeing double. Still had no idea what was wrong with me though.
I'm the guy on the left side playing bass.

http://users.bandzoogle.com/thosethreeguys/media/windowsmedia/KitchenFloor1.wmv

I hope the info on Real Player helps..........Take Care, Paul

[Mark]

This is an absolutely non AN related post, but for those that are downloading "free" real player software to watch the video, a word of caution. I have quicktime, media player, real player all on my computer and Paul is right that they are all useful utilities. However, during the set up process you need to be very aware of the screen where realplayer asks if you want it to be the default for all your audio and video files. Typically, it will assume you do and have them all checked , so unless you remove the ones you don't want it to control, realplayer will take over everything. They all do it to some degree but I have found realplayer to be absolutely insidious about how it tries to take over your machine. Then the upgrade and other pop ups start showing on your computer. It will automatically insert itself into your start menu, so unless you want it always be "on", I would suggest after installing it that you go to the start menu and deselect it so you just start it up manually when you need it. For those of you with Windows XP you can get to the start menu by typing msconfig in the run function, hit the tab for start menu and deselect anything you don't want being turned on everytime you boot up.

Hopefully that makes sense, but I don't live in India and work as an outsourced tech support person 

Mark

[Larry]

Great video.

Interesting all the layers that need to be cut through etc. It's hard to imagine the smallness of everything and the delicacy of the surgery itself.


Larry