Another new member

[beethoven]

If Dr. Sisti recommends the retrosigmoid approach, then I would consider Dr. Post at Mount Sinai. He recently did my AN surgery. I chose him after seeing several doctors including Drs. Roland/Golfinos, Sisti and Slattery. It was a tough choice between Dr. Post and Drs. Roland/Golfinos, but I downloaded their academic papers and found that Dr. Post has been particularly innovative in the field of retrosigmoid surgeries and reports the best success rates for hearing preservation and lowest complication rates. (I was focused on tumors the size of mine, about 1.5cm, so you should do your research as well.)

Frankly I also didn't care for Dr. Sisti. He recommended radiation, which is fine; but while I was in his office, he discussed another patient's case on the phone in front of us, he left the door open, and he talked way more than he listened. I believe he's also less experienced than Dr. Post - he said he'd done 300 surgeries, and Dr. Post said he's done about 500.

[mandy721]

Hi Mandy,

First of all, I hope your husband is doing well. I just found this forum and found your post about your husband. I'm 55 and have a 2.4cm AN on my right side pressing on my brain stem. I live in NJ and in 2000 had radiation (AN was 1.2cm) I never had any symptions except some hearing loss but now I get a dull pain at the back of my neck that travels down my jawline so I have to make some decisions about surgery.

What made your husband decide to go with Dr. Sisti rather than Dr. Roland?

We had good impressions of tall of the surgeons we spoke with.  Dr. Sisti  was the only one  who thought there was a possibility of saving the hearing in the right ear.
I would be happy to chat with you via personal message or by phone about our experience.

[mandy721]

If Dr. Sisti recommends the retrosigmoid approach, then I would consider Dr. Post at Mount Sinai. He recently did my AN surgery. I chose him after seeing several doctors including Drs. Roland/Golfinos, Sisti and Slattery. It was a tough choice between Dr. Post and Drs. Roland/Golfinos, but I downloaded their academic papers and found that Dr. Post has been particularly innovative in the field of retrosigmoid surgeries and reports the best success rates for hearing preservation and lowest complication rates. (I was focused on tumors the size of mine, about 1.5cm, so you should do your research as well.)

Frankly I also didn't care for Dr. Sisti. He recommended radiation, which is fine; but while I was in his office, he discussed another patient's case on the phone in front of us, he left the door open, and he talked way more than he listened. I believe he's also less experienced than Dr. Post - he said he'd done 300 surgeries, and Dr. Post said he's done about 500.

  If you had taken the time to read my signature line, you would have learned that my husband had surgery with Dr. Sisti last month.   

[Jim Scott]

If you had taken the time to read my signature line, you would have learned that my husband had surgery with Dr. Sisti last month.

Mandy ~ 

I'm afraid I'll have to offer you a version of mea culpa here because your parting comment to 'beethoven' could apply to me, as well.  I'm guilty of not only failing to read your signature but, equally significant, failing to note the date of the post I was responding to - June 19, 2009 - making your husband's surgery clearly over and done while I was assuming he was still seeking medical opinions prior to his surgery.  This error in observation rendered my comments of no real value to you or your husband.  I'm sorry for that, because it is the opposite of my intention, which was to support a decision I mistakenly believed your husband was  still contemplating.  I know this is hardly a terrible mistake but I generally note post dates and/or signature lines.  I simply failed to do so in this instance, and I apologize, even though I don't believe any harm was done.  Just a bit of wasted effort on my part due to my own failure to be more observant. 

I hope that in the future, I'll remember this incident and use it to motivate myself to be more vigilant about reading post dates and signatures before posting a reply.   I'll conclude with a sincere wish for your husband's rapid recovery.

Jim

[mandy721]

Jim,
Thank you for your response.  Please know that my message wasn't directed towards you.  In the time  since I found this forum,  I have read your many thoughtful posts and have gained much insight and knowledge from them. I am not the best with details at times and when reading your reply I realized that the details of Ken's experience slipped by. This was  Beethoven's only post  on this forum.  Maybe I was reading more into it than the poster intended, but coming out of a difficult surgery and recovery I found the comments to be insensitive to say the least.
Mandy