Hi, Johno:
Welcome to the site and forum. Your post was both informative and interesting on many levels.
Your experience relating to the discovery of the AN mirrors my own (see my signature). Although I didn't share the same personality traits, I was definitely suffering from lethargy before my diagnosis, It was fortunate I had recently retired because I had steadily (over a period of weeks) lost the energy to do much of anything, including peruse the internet or even watch much TV. In a 'good news - bad news' context, my sense of taste had been affected by the as yet undiscovered AN and I had drastically cut down on my food intake to the point where I lost 30 pounds...and my gut. My wife was getting more concerned than jealous at that point and made an appointment with our family doctor for me. Long story short: I was wheeled into surgery about 4 weeks later. It would have been sooner, but just to liven things up, during pre-op testing a CT scan found a 'mass' on my liver (a large unidentified dark spot). Cancer was strongly suspected. My surgery was immediately canceled (by my neurosurgeon, who was very sorry), and I was introduced to a very nice oncologist who immediately ordered a biopsy of my liver. He told my wife that if I had cancer of the liver, I might have only six months to live. She later told me that she was scared to death - but she never showed it. What a girl!
They told us we would have to 'wait a few days' for the biopsy results. My wife went straight to the oncologist ( a department head) and told him we needed those results now, not in a few days. He said he would have them before the day was out. He did. We received a call from this caring physician at about seven O'clock that evening and we could hear the smile in his voice as he told us that I did not have cancer. The dark spot was an hemangioma - a benign 'tumor', basically a mass of abnormal blood cells - and since I was asymptomatic, no treatment was necessary. My AN surgery was rescheduled. My wife and I finally exhaled after holding our breath for what seemed like hours.
The surgery was successful and the surgeon was able to reduce the AN from 4.5 cm to about 2.8 cm and this allowed my displaced brain to go back into it's normal position in my skull. Fortunately, I had no real post-op complications to speak of. All of my pre-op symptoms rapidly evaporated, as it were. Radiation (FSR) to kill the remaining tumor was scheduled for three months later. I underwent 26 20-minute sessions of low-dose radiation targeted at the remaining tumor. It was successful. In my last MRI scan, taken in late June, the AN had shrunk to 2.4 cm and showed definite signs of necrosis (cell death). Now, over a year after my surgery, I'm doing fine. I just helped a neighbor move her huge TV into her second-floor apartment and then went and hand-washed my car. I have a slight 'dry eye' condition that annoys me on occasion, but it isn't a real problem. A few small 'numb' spots remain on one side of my tongue but otherwise, my sense of taste is back to normal, although I've kept the weight off. My balance is good. Frankly, you would never know that I had the tumor or the surgery if I didn't tell you, and, were we to meet socially, I probably wouldn't.
I have been a Christian for my entire life and an 'active' church member for quite a few years now, so, of course, I leaned on my faith for courage during this time. I also received encouragement and the support of many, many friend. My wife was an absolute rock of support and my advocate all the way. Like you, Johno, I feel that I appreciate life a bit more now and don't allow petty nonsense to control my thoughts, words or actions. I think I'm a bit better person than before, and I suspect most AN 'survivors', are.
I trust you'll continue your recovery at a good clip and be back to work and normalcy, soon.
Thanks again for your observations. They are appreciated, I'm sure. Take care.
Jim
