7 months post retrosigmoid surgery with Dr. Akagami and Dr. Westerberg

[RGG]

Hi everyone,

I've posted on here a few times last year, and want to report on my successful surgery with Dr. Akagami and Dr. Westerberg in Vancouver, Canada, about 7 months ago. 

I was originally diagnozed with a 3x2x3 cm AN in Dec 2015 in Toronto at the age of 34.  My symptoms included sudden hearing loss, scalded feeling on the left half of my tongue, some numbness/tingling in my cheek,  a dry eye, and on occasion I noticed my balance was a bit off.  I was also noticing I was getting tired more easily, especially the last 3-4 months prior to surgery.  After consulting with several surgeons in Toronto, got a referral to Dr's Akagami/Westerberg after reading great reviews on this site.  I decided to go with Dr. Akagami because he gave me better chances for saving the facial nerve, and also since he does retrosigmoid there would be some chance for saving some hearing (though he told me it was unlikely because of the size and location of the tumour).  Overall I felt more comfortable with both Dr's, and decided the trip across the country for surgery is worth it. 

I had to wait about 8 months from my first consult with Dr. Akagami before I got my surgery date in early January of this year.  The surgery was a success, Dr. Akagami removed the entire tumour, and I had absolutely no facial weakness upon waking up.  I did lose my hearing, as expected, and I had quite a bit of nausea the first few days.  Had a bit of pain around the incision site for about a week after I stopped the steroids, but it went away quickly.  Some muscles at the top of my neck were cut during surgery, and I had a lot of stiffness and soreness initially, but this has mostly improved.

At 7 months, I'm more or less back to normal. I returned to work about 2 months after surgery, and have been running and playing sports without any issue the last few months.  I got my first follow-up MRI report recently, and Dr. Akagami confirmed everything looks good.  My eye still gets a little dry and I use eye drops a few times a day, but other than that I have no lasting effects.  I'm very grateful to both Dr. Akagami and Dr. Westerberg, and feel I absolutely made the right choice, despite the extra wait time and travel. 

It's been a rough last couple of years since getting the diagnosis, and I'm relieved that it's over for now.  Good luck to everyone still on the journey!

Rumen

[Matthew]

Hi RGG and thank you for the update on your outcome... Sounds like you are doing great!

[MarlaB]

I consulted with Dr. Westerberg...so compassionate and awesome. Congratulations RGG and welcome to the other side!

Marla B.

[Sailfish]

I also have an AN about the exact same 3.2 x 2.7 x 2.8.  I've been trying to decide between RS and TL surgeries.  Do you mind sharing why you chose the RS path versus TL?

What caught my attention was the two months before returning to work.  Did you need all of that time to recover and feel safe or strong enough?  Could you have returned part time sooner?  As worried as I am about the risks; I'm also very worried about being out of work that long.

Thanks for any insight you can share.

[RGG]

I also have an AN about the exact same 3.2 x 2.7 x 2.8.  I've been trying to decide between RS and TL surgeries.  Do you mind sharing why you chose the RS path versus TL?

What caught my attention was the two months before returning to work.  Did you need all of that time to recover and feel safe or strong enough?  Could you have returned part time sooner?  As worried as I am about the risks; I'm also very worried about being out of work that long.

Thanks for any insight you can share.

Hi Sailfishboy,

I partly chose the RS approach because there was a small chance to preserve some of the hearing I had left in the ear.  Also because that is the approach that the surgeon I felt most comfortable with recommended.  Dr. Akagami did explain to me that he prefers the RS appraoch for larger tumours because he feels it provides better outcomes for the facial nerve, and also it gives him a better view of all sides of the tumour.  He also told me that the RS surgery typically takes less time for large tumours than TL (my surgery took about 8-9 hours). 

As for returning to work, I had a 6-week post op appt and was told I can return to work.  I definitely felt well enough at 6 weeks, but didn't want to rush back (I had told my work I'll be away for up to 3 months).  It'll really all depend on any complications you have during surgery.  One thing all doctors told me was the chance for facial paralysis/dryness in the eye after surgery, which can be very bothersome when working in front of a computer all day.  I was pretty lucky that I only had mild eye dryness, which I took care of with eye drops.  I'd personally recommend if you can afford to, don't rush back to work. 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Rumen