Hi All:
It has been some time since I posted so I thought I had better bring my status up to date.
I had Gamma Knife radiosurgery on Nov. 9, 2009 at Upstate Gamma Knife Center at University Hospital in Syracuse, NY. The Doctors were Dr Hahn and Dr Charles Woods.
In February (3-months post GK), I noticed a sudden increase in loss of hearing in my AN ear. At about that same time I noticed occasional facial twitching on the right side of my face. These occurred intermittently, lasting about 1-minute. I also noticed that they seemed to be temperature sensitive- occurring usually when I would be washing my face with warm or hot water. Dr Woods thinks the sudden loss of hearing is due to sclerosis of blood vessels, due to the radiation, rather than due to swelling. If the hearing loss had occurred earlier he would have given me steroids to control the swelling. Dr Woods said he believes that this additional loss in hearing is going to be permanent. My facial twitching lasted about a month and then completely went away.
In April I had my 6-month post GK MRI and another hearing test. The MRI showed no change in the size or dimensions of my AN. It also showed that the AN has transformed from a kind of solid to being more cystic in nature. (Dr Woods advised this is like going from a kind of solid to more liquid in nature.) He said this is what he expected to see. As for the hearing - Dr Woods said there has been an additional 20% loss in hearing. Coming out of the GK procedure I had about 20% hearing loss. Now my hearing loss is 40-45%. My word discrimination score is still very good so he thinks that a hearing aid may help. He doesn't think my hearing will diminish any further. The hearing aid may not be that helpful when there is a lot of background noise. He said it is up to me on whether I want to pursue a hearing aid at this time. (I am going to wait longer.)
Dr Woods has suggested another MRI and hearing test in about a year (1 1/2 yr post GK procedure).
Present situation - I feel good and am glad that I chose the Gamma Knife procedure done locally in Syracuse, NY. I still have tinnitus and a hearing problem in my right ear but seem to be able to live with it. My balance is fine and I am able to do all of the things I did before the GK procedure. Life is good.
