Happy to! I had retrosigmoid (sub-occipital) and then a CSF leak repair (the leak was from my ear) at Johns Hopkins. To tell you the truth, I don't even remember how small the tumor was, but it was very small. I began to experience headaches about two weeks after my surgery and although they have gotten better -- less intense and with less frequency -- in the six years since my surgery, recently there has been an unexplained uptick in both. It was at that point that I decided to seriously pursue the neurostimulation option. In the past six years, I have tried: accupuncture, nerve blocks, hypnotherapy, botox, physical therapy, massage therapy, etc., and various meds, and like most of the rest of us, have gotten various diagnoses. I was the one who found Dr. Ducic, and after meeting with him, decided against surgery. I had no headaches pre-op except the occasional garden-variety tension headache. I should also say that 8 months post-AN surgery, I had to have another, unrrelated surgery that required my being positioned in yet another unnatural pose which I'm sure exacerbated the head pain. I also have an underlying medical condition that make it tricky for me to take some meds, and even the most benign ones can cause me a problem if taken over a long period of time.
The neurostimulation may not work -- that's why they do a test run -- and it's not intended to be a cure. But it may take away some of the pain, or at least get me to the point I hear some sufferers finally get to, and that is NO pain!! It IS off-label and as has been mentioned before, you're not supposed to get an MRI with one.
staypoz
