Recovery from AN surgery

[DarleneN]

Hi!

I have been heard from a number of AN post-surgery patients .  They have had vastly different degrees of difficulty after surgery.  Of course, I know every AN is different, and every AN patient is different, but the people I've heard from who had retrosig approach seemed to have a more difficult recovery period, than the people I've heard from who had translab approach.  Does anyone know if there really is a difference in recovery between these two approaches?

Thanks,
Darlene

[leapyrtwins]

the people I've heard from who had retrosig approach seemed to have a more difficult recovery period, than the people I've heard from who had translab approach. 

Darlene -

I had retrosigmoid and I didn't have what I'd consider a more difficult recovery period than someone who had translab.

All patients recover at a different rate and surgical approach, in my opinion, doesn't have anything to do with it.  I think that age and health of the patient at the time of surgery probably have a bigger impact on recovery than the surgical approach used. 

I only had slight facial nerve damage for a day or two post op - it was cleared up with a single dose of steroids.  I didn't have a CSF leak, I didn't have issues with my eye closing (I needed no eye weight), I took no pain meds, I had no headaches - still don't.  I had major nausea and I also had double vision for a few days.  The only other issues I had post op are issues that most patients encounter like dry mouth, dry eye, metallic mouth, and balance issues (until my body adjusted).

I think there are many others on the Forum who had retrosigmoid and had experiences similar to mine.

Jan

[texsooner]

I'm with Jan, I don't think there's necessarily a direct correlation to the type of surgical technique used and recovery period. I had retrosigmoid surgery and had a pretty quick and good recovery.  I know I will probably miss listing something important, but I believe the main factors affecting recovery are skill of the surgeons, location of AN, how involved (sticky) the AN is to nerves, general health of the patient, and not getting some type of infection while in the hospital. Having said all that, I will say that I'm not a doctor and don't know everything.

Patrick   

[moe]

Darlene,
Yep it's difficult to say.
I had translab and had no dizziness/balance problems, because the nerve was totally squashed. Just headache which subsided after six weeks, and shortness of breath from losing so much blood (this is not normal). Oh yea, and a sacrificial facial nerve
 Maybe the reason that it is perceived that people from Trans lab approach do better is because the balance/hearing nerve are together, so many have already compensated with the balance, as in my case? Just a thought..
Maureen

[CHD63]

Darlene .....

Ditto to the previous replies ..... I had retrosigmoid with no headaches, no nausea, no facial weakness, no eye issues, no infection, and no CSF leak.  I had mild double vision for several days and major balance issues (due to having had previous brain surgery on the opposite side with apparent vestibular damage), but those two things would most likely have been present with any surgical approach.  My husband drove us home (a 6 hour drive) 11 days after surgery (after a short stay post-hospital with relatives) and I did fine.

I agree that much depends upon one's general health pre-surgery, the location and size of the tumor, and especially the skill of and technique used by the surgeon.

Best wishes.

Clarice

[pjb]

I had the retrosigmoid approach and I have headaches, fullness, tinnitus, a loss of hearing, mild balance issues, that I did not have before my surgery, but thank goodness no facial weakness, eye issues or any CSF leak so I cannot complain.

Regards,

Pat

[Jim Scott]

Darlene ~

I underwent retrosigmoid approach debulking surgery back in June, 2006, experienced almost no post-op problems and enjoyed a rapid recovery.  I'm not an isolated case for 'retro' AN patients but as you noted, each patient has a slightly different experience.  Still,  I have to pretty much echo Patrick's comments regarding the reasons for a patient's recovery time because he makes a cogent analysis of the factors involved. 

Jim 

[epc1970]

Hi Darlene
I'm with Patrick and Jim on this one. It seems that everyone's expirence is as individual as the person is and surgical approch may not be the most significant factor. I had retrosigmoid and had only temporary-3 weeks-facial issues, very liitle balance trouble, retained the hearing I had left and no eye issues. My friend Marie had retro just today and is doing wonderfully! I hope your son is narrowing to a decision-he owes you a big "thank you"-you have been asking many good questions to aid his decision making!
Erin

[cin605]

I had the retrosigmoid approach and I have headaches, fullness, tinnitus, a loss of hearing, mild balance issues, that I did not have before my surgery, but thank goodness no facial weakness, eye issues or any CSF leak so I cannot complain.

Regards,

Pat

DITTO!

[jacobson69]

Hi Darlene,

I had retrosigmoid surgery almost back in 2008 and recovery time for my was about 1 month.  In the beginning I had slight facial weakness, hearing loss on my right ear (that was a choice).  I had none of the headaches, dizziness or eye problems, leaks.  Everybody's recovery is different.  It depends on the size and location of your AN, your physical condition before surgery, how skilled your surgeon is.  A good attitude never hurts 

Hui

[jaylogs]

I might as well chime in from the Middle Fossa club (even though that wasn't part of the question )... I didn't have a lot of issues post recovery...except for the wonky head still makes its presence known from time to time.  I had no CSF's, no facial weakness, but I did get blood in the spinal fluid so that made my legs hurt pretty bad for about a month.  Other than that, pretty much drama free!
Jay

[Adrienne]

I don't believe the type of surgery plays a part in the recovery.

For what it's worth, I had retro and sailed through recovery (as much as you can anyway.....LOL).

Adrienne

[Denise S]

I actually thought the differences in those 2 surgeries could play a role and that is why when most doctors say there is pretty much no chance to preserve hearing they opt for the translab.      Although, I do know 100% and am a strong advocate for what has previously been mentioned is things associate to the tumor size, exactly where it is, if it is sticky (which they don't know for sure until they get in there), if there is anything else going on in there that the MRI can't pick up, but also each persons body heals, recovers and responds differently to every situation (even a basic cold).   

Have you gottten information from the ANA?   They have nice brochures they will send.   Plus you could maybe google the surgery types and side effects post op.

Best wishes to you!
Denise

[Lizard]

I have seen articles about the type of surgery vs the recovery time, and side affects etc...like this one which talks about headaches and gives some good statistics.  But don't rely to heavily on this as said above everyone reacts differently.  I have been prone to headaches my whole life so the biggest post op issues are my headaches. 

Do your research I'm sure you will decide what is best for you.
Liz

(Never attached a link, hope this works)

http://cep.sagepub.com/cgi/content/full/29/7/760