Hello,
I was diagnosed back in December of 2014 with a 3+ cm AN, main symptom was my lips were cold, my left gum line and left side of my tongue were feeling like they were on fire, this was after a sinus infection. I had a long history of sinus and ear infections on the left side that progressively seemed to be getting worse. The anti-biotics my doctor gave me cleared up the sinus issue, but the mouth issues remained. After sinus cleared up I thought maybe it was a tooth infection and went to my dentist, who actually was first one to identify the mass through his x-rays of my mouth that also caught a portion of the nasal cavity. His hygienist who cleaned my teeth after the x-rays were taken, sat back in her chair upon completing the cleaning and told me to go back to the doctor immediately because she felt the asymmetry in my face occurring and stated it was similar to patients of hers that had Bell-palsy or stroke. And so my journey began, definitely underestimated what I was in for.
I had surgery in February 2015 at Mayo in Rochester, MN. 11 hours of surgery, double what they estimated, but they took good care of me. I was pretty fit going into the surgery, but in my mid 40s. Recovery was/is tough. I’ve fought through many balance issues and I am still progressing and still recovering. Hearing loss was difficult to deal with afterwards for a while, but far easier that the facial issues. Many things are difficult, but I’m stubborn and determined to attempt to continue being my normal self.
One of my many loves to do is to race go karts, both modern and vintage, and I was seriously scared that I would never be able to do that again like I once had. I managed to return to the track less than 3 months after the surgery, I did not do all that well, was seriously lacking in the stamina department as a result of the recovery and such, really I basically just drove around on the track briefly in the race. BUT I did it and that gave me hope and determination to continue road racing the karts. Later in the year I returned to a local high bank oval track (that did give me a serious case of vertigo and nausea at first). I may not be able to feel like I can ride a bicycle safely, but I’m back to winning races on 4 wheels. I do believe that the motivation to get back out on the race track helped me and is continuing to help me in my everyday life, restoring confidence in being able to do things. Follow-up has been positive thus far at the 6 month mark, will have another MRI soon to observe the small piece of tumor that was left on my facial nerve.
The situation is always there, I deal with it the best way I know possible.....
