Tomorrow will be five weeks since my surgery to remove a 3+ cm acoustic neuroma. I'm amazed by how resilient the human body is -- I feel great!
I'm a health, 34-year-old male. About four months ago I noticed hearing loss on my left side and my doctor referred me to an ENT. While it took about a month to get the appointment with the ENT, everything from that point onward was done with a speed and efficiency I thought wasn't possible in our health care system:
July 30, 2013: Dr. Finch, an ENT at Meriter Hospital, Madison, WI conducts a hearing test. He thinks my single-sided hearing loss is related to a nasty cold and ear infection I had earlier in the year but orders an auditory canal test just to be safe.
July 31, 2013: Dr. Finch calls and says he would like me to get an MRI as the auditory canal test was abnormal.
August 1, 2013: MRI was scheduled one day after it was ordered! Didn't find it to be too claustrophobic.
August 2, 2013: I get the call from Dr. Finch: I have a "lesion" that needs to be surgically removed. He's already spoken with the specialists at the UW hospital and I'm scheduled for an appointment as soon as the surgeon gets back from vacation.
August 12, 2013: I meet with Dr. Gubbels (Otolaryngology, Neurotology) and Dr. Baskaya (Neurosurgeon) at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. After seeing my MRI and being told that it's a "large" tumor, I'm put at ease by the news that these two have completed hundreds of AN removals with no major problems. I see no need for a second opinion -- the tumor is very likely too large for radiation or a surgical approach that preserves hearing -- so I'm scheduled for a translab procedure only three weeks later!
August 30, 2013: After a mostly sleepless night I head into the hospital eager to get the operation over and done with. Time from diagnosis to surgery: less than a month!
Surgery: The surgery took 14 hours as my tumor was full of blood vessels (ANs often have smaller blood supplies, making them easier/faster to remove). To be honest, I didn't feel too bad when I woke up. My vision was spinning a little bit when I looked around, but I had very little nausea. After a few hours in the ICU I was taken down to get the post-op MRI done (3:30 AM on a Saturday!), and was able to talk to all the nurses and technicians, as well as slide myself off of the ICU bed onto the thinner bed that's used in the MRI. The next morning Dr. Baskaya tells me he removed all of the tumor (later confirmed by the MRI) and takes a photo of my "perfect face" for future conference presentations (I suffered essentially no facial weakness/paralysis).
First Week Post-Op: After feeling surprisingly good for the first 24 hours, during which I only took a small amount of oral painkillers (oxycontin and tylenol), I develop some pretty painful headaches. I go on IV painkillers (morphine) for a day until they pass then switch back to oxycontin and tylenol tablets. I spent one night in ICU and another three nights in the general ward before going home. At home I'm walking around but the headaches are back and the muscles in my neck, back and legs are very sore. Lots of hot baths and massages help the muscle pain and I decide the oxycontin is not helping my headaches. I stop taking oxycontin after the first week and stick with only tylenol, which I think helped.
Second Week Post-Op: Still quite sore but I hit the 10-day mark and feel much better. I go for a long, 30-minute walk outside and wonder if that was a good idea. I keep pushing myself to take (shorter) walks and the muscle pains slowly subside. I'm even feeling good enough to get in the kitchen and prepare meals for the family. Still waking up during the night to take tylenol.
Third Week Post-Op: Feeling noticeably better: less pain, more energy, having regular bowel movements, big appetite, sleeping soundly all night. Start doing a few hours work from home each morning. I'm a software developer and didn't have any problems focusing on the screen, thinking or sitting for an extended period. Start going for short drives (with another person in the car) and don't have any problems with dizziness when I turn my head for head checks. I start my rehabilitation program and my physical therapist can't believe how mobile I am. Start taking ibuprofin instead of tylenol which I think does a better job with the aches and pains.
Fourth Week Post-Op: Back in the office doing close to a 40-hour week. I'm able to pick up my 32-pound two-year-old and go shopping. I stop taking ibuprofin and tylenol and feel fine.
Fifth Week Post-Op: I honestly feel pretty close to 100%. I hardly even notice the hearing loss on my left side.
The bottom line is I'm very lucky to have such an amazing medical team nearby. But it's the speed at which they are able to get things are done that made my experience such a positive one; in some ways the anticipation prior to the surgery was the worst part! And I'm sure others have recovered faster than me, so please excuse the thread title, but I just feel like things couldn't have gone better for me.
To those that are still struggling with their recovery I sincerely wish you the best of luck.
Up Next: A week-long family vacation in Puerto Rico at the end of October -- can't wait!
Take care,
Luke
