Hi Glenda-
I'm a new forum member, although I've been "lurking" as a guest for the past 4 months! I also live on the east coast (CT) and had mid-fossa surgery at HEI last August. Rick Friedman and Marc Schwartz were my surgeons. I'm lucky that I have a husband who has tons of frequent flyer miles, so I went to HEI to check it out in advance before I went there for surgery. I too had mid fossa surgery recommended by a local otolaryngologist, but his colleague/department head contradicted him and recommended Gamma knife. I didn't feel very secure with that team, which prompted me to contact HEI.
For lots of reasons, I knew Gamma knife would not be for me. The HEI surgeons spent a lot of time (2 hours) with me and my husband when we went for the preliminary visit, explaining all the pros, cons, etc. There's no denying that this a very scary adventure you're facing, but everyone at House was incredibly helpful and supportive. The surgeons preserved my hearing (I had 85% and it's unchanged), and although I have some minor balance and facial issues, I think I did OK. I'd recommend them to anyone.
However, if you decide to stay closer to home, I think one of the most important questions you should ask the surgeons is how many middle fossa surgeries have they performed this month? this week? It's the trickiest of the surgical approaches and you want to be sure that the surgeon has had lots of experience. And if you don't feel secure, go see someone else.
Good luck to you,
Kathleen
P.S. This forum is so great and will give you so much help and info. I wish it didn't take me 4 months after surgery to find it!
