Hello - My 2 year MRI followup shows NO GROWTH, still just under 2MM AN.
What I have I been doing? Continued getting regular massages (every 2 weeks now instead of every week), using facial products that contain the helichysthum (sp) extract (L'Occitane brand), drinking lots of water, avoiding dental X-rays, increased my walking on my treadmill (helps circulation). I have also tried to not stress so much over things in general, get proper sleep, and stay balanced (ha ha). I haven't used essential oils quite as much as I did in the beginning, but the facial products I use have the extract in them. Another plus - my skin looks pretty good!
I still have my whooshing in my right ear, but my vision problems that I had before - they have really gone away. I even discussing that with my eye doctor a couple weeks ago during my annual checkup. I was wearing sunglasses in stores with certain lighting, I was having issues with patterns/things moving, I was having problems walking on shiny surfaces, all of that has gone away over time.
I believe the tumor is a result of inflammation, and increasing the circulation to that area is helpful. Also, I know there was a country (I think Hungary or Finland) where they examined the brains of people after they died and found that many had small ANs that they didn't even know about. So, I keep hoping that I will fall into this category.
Also, considering my sister went from bad to worse in a 6 month span and had surgery, I had my symptoms kick in around Jan 2011, the diagnosis around May 2011, more symptoms in June 2011…continuing for a while, and then….things started slowly getting better (some of it may have been anxiety too, that is definitely a problem to weed out what is the tumor and what is anxiety), and then I would say 2014 and into 2015, I haven't even thought about it much on a daily basis (even though I have this whooshing still on a daily basis). So, it's been over 4.5 years for me since I started having symptoms and so far, so good. I was fearing I would be having surgery within 2 years of the diagnosis. Wow, I haven't even thought about it in this way, now I feel like I have already won!
My neurosurgeon wants to do another MRI in 2 years and then after that if it is still stable, go to 3 to 4 year intervals. I also shared with him the article in the recent AN newsletter about aspirin/COX-2 helping with ANs. He said I was a bit too young (I'm going to be 48) to take aspirin on a daily basis and I don't have any issues that required Celebrax (CO-2) but was open to discussing this in case my AN starts growing.
Also, this is interesting - I discussed dental X-rays with him again, and he discouraged getting them. So, I'm sure my dentist will still be mad but I don't care it's my head not his. My sister had gotten a full set of dental X-rays a couple months prior to having her symptoms surface. And I had gotten a full set as well, we are really wondering about timing. Maybe Dr. Claus study will prove something. I have had NO DENTAL XRAYS since being diagnosed with the AN (and my teeth haven't rotted out either…also, I would prefer a root canal, and I hate getting dental work done, to having AN surgery).
Between getting a job promotion the week before and having this result, I feel like I should play the lottery next.
YEAH!
