Facial Nerve Question

[Melissa778]

I am set to have (translab) surgery 3 weeks from today (yikes!) for my approx 1.6cm AN.......Over the last two weeks I have noticed that I get alot of twitching in my cheek on my AN side......right on my cheek bone under my eye.  It's feels a bit "tight" and somewhat different that the other side of my face.  I have no palsy though.  Should I be worried?  Honesty here please.....

Melissa

[Curly Jo]

Hi Melissa,

Best of luck with your upcoming surgery.  I have a small right side AN and due to the location; I do experience the palsy which was how I was diagnosed.  Nerve compression can cause twitching but this may also be caused by stress.  I am sure your physician would be able to address your concerns.  Take care.

Curly Jo

[Jim Scott]

Melissa:

As it grows and expands (in a very small space) the AN may be encroaching on the facial nerve, causing the sensations you're feeling  However, this is pure speculation on my part as I'm not a physician.  You may wish to mention these new facial sensations to your doctor, who may be able to offer you some explanation.  Try not to over-focus on this as you want to be as calm and positive as possible as you prepare for surgery.

I wish you a great surgical outcome with minimal-to-no complications...and a rapid recovery. 

Jim

[Debbi]

Hey Melissa-

I had NO facial symptoms before my surgery last week, but now have the dreaded "numbness."  It is temporary, though as the nerve is still fine, just a little ticked off at being trifled wtih.  I am seeing one of my surgeons this Friday for suture removal and to talk to him about how my face is doing.  Biggest challenges right now are poor blinking, meaning that I have to be very careful with my right eye, and general probelms keeping some food in my mouth.  The latter is actually pretty funny at times, if you can allow yourself a little humor at your own expense.

If you want to talk before your surgery, just let me know - I'll be happy to share anything you want to know about.  Meanwhile, just try to keep yourself distracted wtih some fun things.  Those last few weeks before surgery are definitley very stressful!

Hang in there! 

Debbi - six days post op!

[matti]

Melissa - My main symptoms pre-op were facial/eye twitching, numbness and what felt like a tight pony tail on my cheek to the side of my ear. I will say that stress did aggravate it some and you are certainly in a stressful time period. It wouldn't hurt to bring it up with your doctor, as I am sure he should be made aware of any new symptom that arises.  Don't worry too much.

Debbi - I vividly remember those days of food/drink dribbling out of my mouth and not being aware of it and yes, humor is very healing.  You are doing great at 6 days post op, just remember not to over do it.

Cheryl

[Kaybo]

Debbie~
I wouldn't advise corn on the cob anytime soon!!!     Since my movement/feeling never came back, there are several things (like corn on the cob or ribs) that I will not eat in public anymore!!! NOT a pretty sight!!  LOL!!!

K

[er]

hello daydreamer,

 Jim's comments sound pretty good, you may wish to mention these new facial sensations to your doctor, who may be able to offer you some explanation.  Like he says don't worry to much it is hard to do.
I also had problems eating after surgery my left side just didn't want to do what I wanted it to do.
Good luck my prayers are with you.
eve

[chocolatetruffle]

a couple of weeks before my surgery, i also experienced some facial tightness and passing numbness on my left face which did not caused any palsy. after my surgery, my doctor told me that my facial nerve was quite stretched, however the only facial weakness i experienced was difficulty in raising my left eyebrow for a 1 week and soreness/tightness on the jawline for about 3 weeks.  Its been 5mths and the only weakness i have now (due to my facial nerve) is minimal numbness on my left tongue and reduced tearing in my left eye - both of which is improving with each passing day.  i guess each person's experiences are different but the point is even with stretched nerve, the outcome can be equally good. good luck to you and hope this helps!

[jlamborn]

I know what you mean about the twitching and the check not feeling quite right.  I had translab for a 1.3 cm AN about 16 months ago.  Immediately after surgery, I had full movement on the surgery side; the next day, probably due to normal post-surgical swelling, the right side of my face was slow to move (couldn't blink that eye very well, and couldn't control that corner of my mouth very well.  I was a little alarmed, but my surgeon was pretty confident on that "how you initially wake up is how you'll eventually be" mentality.  He was right; starting about a month post-op, there was improvement from the top down (eye, cheek, and finally the mouth).  At 6 months out, my eyes blinked together again finally, and I gained almost full movement on that side.  I still get the occasional twitching at the corner of my eye and edge of the check, mostly in the evening when I'm tired, and also make sure I wear sunglasses outside all the time.  The explanation of that seems to be that if my eyes have to squint due to the sunlight, it makes the twitching a little worse for some reason.  All in all, I'm very happy with how everything turned out.  With some of the paralysis that a lot of people here ended up with, I'm fine with a little twitching.  I don't regret the translab because there was no serviceable hearing left to save, and I think my facial nerve had the best chance with that surgery.

Jean

[Debbi]

May I just add that, if you have any facial issues, don't let them try to feed you soup!  Mine ended up all over my chest!  I am sure it was hilarious to see.

And, Kay, good advice on the corn.  I live in one of the great corn producing areas of NJ, so I'll be sure to have my corn in private...

Debbi (sneaking up on soup...)

[Cheryl R]

Are foods tasting off to you?    Certain ones aren't right to me  and other ones aren't too bad.  I have to watch for occ dribbles too.            It has happened every time to me and it does improve in time.             
Give yourself another week and you will be much improved in feeling stronger.     Than we get to the point where we are tired of taking it easy but not ready for our normal  lifestyle either!    Tomorow is 3 weeks post op.               
          Hang in there.                         Cheryl R

[Debbi]

Most food tastes pretty much like it should, but there are some things that really taste off, or metalic.  Asparagus, which I love, just tasted weird to me.  Also, dried cranberries didn't taste right at all. 

I think the dribbling is diminishing at least a little - I feel lucky that all my cheerios stay in my mouth now (if I really concentrate!) 

I also have some difficulty pronouncing certain lettersl, like B and P - I can do it, but I really have to slow down and concentrate.  Good thing I'm not driving - I'd be busted for sure if I was pulled over - can't walk a straight line, slurring my words, poor eye coordination, occasionaly drooling... 

Debbi

[4cm in Pacific Northwest]

Daydreamer,

I interviewed 9 surgeons before I settled on my team. One I interviewed, who was impressive to me, was in fact who you picked- Dr. Kartush there in Michigan.
http://www.michiganear.com/about/jkartush.html


He has a high facial nerve preservation rate and if I was younger (felt up to the three multi-step route to tumor debulking- as he advocated) and geographically closer I “may� have gone with him.

Know that the facial nerve probe that is used in AN surgeries today- he co-invented and actually has the patent on.
http://www.michiganear.com/library/F/facemon.pdf

 I think as finding the “facial nerve AN surgeonâ€? guru he would be THE surgeon to ask. (I spoke with him at length.) He seemed to be the surgeon most into facial nerve preservation I know of ...others are into hearing preservation. I guess each neurotologist has their passion. I personally know of a high school teacher who had surgery with Dr. Kartush a decade ago- and bounced back to the classroom in no time ….and to others does not look any different than before her surgery.

I am surprised he is doing a “translab� if you still have good hearing (I am reading this from your 1st post) and you have a small tumor. For me he advocated a retrosigmoid with my 4 cm in a 3 different surgeries approach. Often these choices may have something to do with the “location� of the tumor.

Phone his office and tell him you are having some facial issues (as you described to us) and he will be able to tell you what you are up against. I think you will be in good hands with him- he is quite well recognized. Is he planning one surgery or multiple surgeries to remove your tumor? (Sometimes they do not know what they are up against until they see how the tumor is surrounding the facial and vestibular nerves- but usually they have a plan)


Keep moving forward.

Daisy Head Mazy

[lori67]

Debbi - I'm 14 months post op and still can't eat soup!  I won't order it out and rarely attempt it at home either.  There's not much point in trying it when most of it winds up everywhere other than in my mouth.  After our yearly pilgrimage to the Jersey shore last summer, we brought back some corn on the cob from my sister's farm - Kay's right - not a good idea.  I had to cut it off the cob and eat it that way.  Still tasted good though!  I always make sure to carry straws and extra napkins with me where ever I go.

Hopefully your taste will return to normal.  Mine did for the most part.  Everything tasted like metal or cardboard for the first few months, but I did find that I started liking things after my surgery that I didn't like before - grapefruit, avocadoes, salmon.  Weird.

Lori

[leapyrtwins]

I, too, had the weird taste buds and metallic mouth post op.  Popcorn used to just taste like pure salt to me   

And I had no use for chocolate - which is TOTALLY against my character 

The good news, is that the weird tastes usually disappear in time.  I'll be 12 months post op in about 3 weeks (yea!!!) and I haven't had taste issues for a long time.

Jan