I was treated in May of 2006 and I was so terrified I just didn't know what to do. I went to SEVERAL Doctors in Ohio and didn't feel comfortable with any of them. Then some how each doctor I went to led us to Ohio State University where we met Dr. Brad Welling and Dr. McGregor. And let me tell you the staff before and after my surgery have got to be the most informative, commassionate, understanding, and friendly people I have met in a hospital setting in a LONG time! Whatever these people get paid they deserve every single penny! On my way into surgery I was in tears and shaking so hard I felt I was going to shake right off the table. The nurse (who was a male) who was rolling me down the hall way held my hand tight and talked to me and said everything is going to be ok.
Prior to my surgery day the first day we met with Dr. Welling he came into the office and sat down and said "you are probly wondering what this is that you have" I said "YES!" no one up till this point took the time to tell me what it is. Dr. Welling got out a model, got out my MRI's he compaired them (everyone else said it hasn't grown, leave it for at least 10 years..... yeah sure.. I want a tumor in my head for 10 years not knowing what it is doing!) and Dr. Welling told me everything there is to know about an AN. Then he sat and talked with my husband for a while and kept coming back to me to see if I had any more questions yet. This man took almost 3 hours just on a consoltation with us! He made sure that when I left his office I had no questions and if I did have more once we left he gave me his number to call and told me if I couldn't get a hold of him directly there was ONE other person I could ask for and she would ALWAYS be there. and sure enough.... they were! When I would have a question, I would call and they would ALWAYS take the time to answer! they didn't rush me or give me a quick answer and they didn't candy cote anything. They were WONDERFUL.
They also helped me though my recovery. They were just amazing! I brought them all gifts. i do get vascular headaces but they said that is to be expected and as time goes on they will be less intence. They take a lot of time with me anytime I call them and they always call me right back! They even got me a temporary handycapped tag for my car so that I could go out and do things and not worry about falling in a parking lot. They wrote me a letter to my gym so that they would extend my membership and they got me a full 6 months. These doctors have gone out of their way for me and I was just amazed! I couldn't get any doctors to even look at my MRI's with me!
Dr. Welling is also on the list for the "Top Doctors in the US". He was also accepted for a US grant to head the research on finding out what causes there, if there is a way to stop the growth and I also donated my tumor to his research.
Anyone that is NEAR Ohio that is looking for a doctor I HIGHLY recomend Dr.Brad Welling! their team of doctors and nurses are the nicest people I have met in the medical field (next to my Mom of course!) They are WONDERFUL!
My surgery went very well. It was going to take 8 hours but they got it done in 6. I woke up and was very dizzy and confused and I did throw up. But I just kept my eyes closed and slept. I got stick twice and both times it was because they had moved my bed. I didn't take the nasua medication but a couple of times and my mom and Dad and husband were at the hospital with me all the time to help take care of me. They had this bandage on my head for a while that was REALLY tight and I told my doctor it was really bothering me so he loosened it a little. He personally came up and checked on me several times and every single day there was someone a couple of times a day that came up to see how I was doing. They had me in ICU for the first night.. which I don't remember much except for the nurse that I had in the ICU was talking with me and we were talking about Cats (I think) and then she brought her husband who also worked at the hospital in to meet me. I don't remember why.... but I remember she brought him in to meet me. Everyone was so incredibly nice in the hospital that it helped make me feel a lot more relaxed and comfortable about what was going on.
My doctor told me one thing I will never forget while I was in the hospital.. he said "Now as each day passes or as the minuets pass this is getting further and further in the rearview mirror and sooner or later it won't be in focus anymore. it is done and over with and now we are on the road to recovery". and I just smiled. I sometimes will cry remembering how scared I was and how it is all over now and I am recovering and it is thanks to him that I can still hear out of my ear (i did loose some of my hearing, but I can still hear) and I have the side of my face! So he did an outstanding job! He never promised me I wouldn't loose my hearing or my face, but he said the sooner you get it taken care of and get it out of there the less damage it can cause and the easier it is to have it removed. So I HIGHLY recomend finding a GREAT doctor like I did and getting the tumor removed ASAP. It is a lot worse keeping it there and worrying about it and just dragging out the fear. And it is also worse that it could cause more damage becuase you don't know when or how it will grow. But the sooner you get it out the less damage it is going to do.
Anyway, I guess that is all my advice for now. If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me at any time and if you go to OSU to have your tumor removed make sure you donate it so that in the future hopefully no one else will have to go though what we have in order to get rid of these tumors!
Take care!
TTFN Julie
