I think that is what most of us feared the most. I was not given "odds" nor did I ask for them. My surgeons said that they would leave a fragment rather than risk injuring the nerve if it did not slip off. Some are tacky they explained, but typically the fragment dies off since it is not being fed anymore (if on the facial nerve, not on the brain stem). My tumor was also on my brain stem - even moved my stem a bit. So my outcome was NO facial weakness ever. The brain stem was 100% free of the tumor, but the facial nerve was left with 2% of the tumor. My followup is in October. I will find out then if it has died or grown. I had a good bit of numbness in my mouth and loss of taste buds for about 6 months, but most of that is normal now. I had excellent surgeons. That is the key in my opinion since this is such a delicate surgery. Keep us posted on how you do.
