Hello everyone, my name is Jim. In February of this year I was diagnosed with a small 7mm AN on the left after going to the ER for balance and vertigo issues. I had a meeting with Dr. Backous at Swedish in Seattle and decided to go ahead with a middle fossa approach to remove the tumor. Went on March 12th to have the surgery. Long story short, Dr. Backous got in there and found a Facial Neuroma wrapped around the acoustic nerve as well and pressing on the balance nerve. He decided to decompress the canal and leave the tumor. I have since had facial paralysis that has gotten much better than at first, but still present. Poor vision in my eye. Pain in my head and face and ear. And twitching. I've been considering going for a second opinion. I wish he had just removed the tumor and dealt with whatever afterwards instead of having it and not knowing what will be get better and what wont. My biggest concern is that the Vertigo is back after 2 months of not having it after surgery. Also the right side of my face and neck, the opposite side of the tumor, has begun twitching daily and strong tinnitus off and on. Thanks for everything.
