I'm 27, and terrified

[dianneh1]

hi all

I am 26 and have a 2.5 cm AN left side.  I have no usefull hearing left.  Balance is not so great.  After speaking with both Drs they oth have said that after a few mts I should be back to normal activities. I feel very confident with them and am scheduled for surgery Oct. 26.  The Drs scared me also but I realized that they have to give you best and worst case stiuations, they both agree that since I have age on my side recovery time should be less. I am still terrified, considering I have a 5 mth old son at home to take care of, but I feel it is better to get this over with now vs. later. 
Good luck with scuba diving, it is something you love and I hope you get back to it ASAP!
Keep up the great sense of humor it will help you get through this much easier

good luck to all of you and I will keep you in my thoughts.


dianne

[bhiggins]

Hello,
A little advice for you.  I am now 24 yrs old and had a 5.4 cm AN.  I have had four surgeries to remove it.  I had no other option but surgery.  I like you am very active in sports, especially sports that require balance.  I am also very involved in going out and meeting new people and really enjoy "making goofy faces," but all of that changed a little, I lost my facial nerve, my auditory nerve, and my balance nerve, I have sense undergone a nerve graft where they took a nerve from my tongue and grafted it into my facial nerve, w/ quite large success, since regained about 50% use.  My last surgery was this past March bringing the total to over 55 hrs. of surgery.  I was freaked out when I had to go back for the second one, didnt have enough time to be scared for the first, but I knew that during the second one the facial nerve was the concentration point.  Unfortunately I lost the use of my facial nerve after a 22 hr surgery, but looking back on it I am still the same person just w/ some minor differences and I am still very involved in sports and going out meeting new people.  I am so happy that something like this happened to me b/c I knew I was strong enough to handle this, whether the outcome was perfect or if I had to make some adjustments in life, its another one of life's challenges.  I was fortunate, sports came natural to me, and now I am actually better at some sports now b/c I have to really try to be good, there is no 80%.  But I really found out that no one that truly cares about you is going to judge you for being different, if that's the case.  I don't think I could have done this w/out my friends and family, and to this day if we go to do something that is going to be difficult for me, they help me out, not leave me behind, its just adversity that you can overcome if you want to.  So I guess I am going to tell you some quotes that helped me: what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger, life is not perfect, and when life throws you lemons, dag gumit you make lemonade!  Best of luck to you, and you will be able to do all of the same things as before, but you just might have to make some adjustments to do them.
Brian

[littlemissrory]

Hi...I am a firm believer that if you want it just make it happen.  When I found out that I needed surgery (my tumor was much smaller 8mm-but making me really sick, nausea, vomiting, nystagmus, visual problems) I walked in to see my surgeon and simply asked if he could get me out kayaking (I am a whitewater kayaker) in a month.  He said I'd feel like crap but yes, we could do that.  A month later I was on the water, I skied (I'm a ski coach for a race team) all winter no problem and learned to surf within eight to ten weeks of surgery.  It has been a year, from this experience if I am changed it's for the better.  It wasn't painful-more uncomfortable and frustrating since I, like you, am always out playing.  I guess it was the bodies way of getting a little rest.  Don't rush your recovery, take time to honor yourself and treat yourself well so you'll heal and be out going again.  Use your friends, family and us for support and you'll do great!  Best of luck!  Rory