I got back home last night from Vancouver. Warm, mild, green Vancouver
After all this time, I've finally confirmed what I thought would be the case. I will be having surgery with Drs. Akagami and Westerberg in Vancouver. I was pleased with the way the entire surgery was discussed, with the confidence both exuded and the results they have achieved for their patients over the years. The procedure is a little different from all those previously discussed with me including retrosigmoid as commonly performed. They use an endoscopic approach and the point of entry is similar to one I was reading studies about a couple of weeks ago. The positioning of the body is used to take advantage of gravity and makes retraction of the brain stem unlikely.
I feel this will be the best avenue for me to remove the tumour and maintain the integrity of my facial, trigeminal and vagus nerves. I don't expect to retain any hearing, and will be terribly sad to lose it. In the grand scheme of things, this is not, by far the worse thing that could happen.
I was told up front surgery will be in 3-6 months and I will have from 2-3 weeks notice of the date. They did fax a new referral for another MRI for May so I'd say it will be closer to 6 months than 3.
What I did find interesting is that each surgeon still feels the strange head issues I have on standing up are not related to this tumour. I asked if I should be seeing the doctor to begin investigating this but they both said I should wait until after surgery to see. They are intrigued, I can tell.
