Introducing myself

[carlita]

Hi my name is carla and my friends call me carlita. I had an acoustic neuroma of 5cm, until the day of my surgery on march 26th of this year. After 15 hpurs of surgery, accidentally my neruosurgeon cut the facial nerve and left me with half of my face with no sensation or movement. Days after i had meningitis and almost a week after an arterie explote because of a blood clot. so had 3 surgeries in my head one on my eye lit because i couldnt fully close it, i also had a lumbar drenage twice cuz my body wasn't absorbing the spinal liquid and the most recently was the conection of my facial nerve with the hyploglossal. I stayed in the hospital for almost a month and a half, and in the ICU for two weeks succesfully now alive. So right now, i am just waiting for my smile to come back, and tears and taste, and able to chew with my other side of the mouth!
 

[ppearl214]

Hi Carlita and welcome. My goodness.... you have been through a lot. I hope you find answers here... and can help support so many others that endure our AN journey.  Please take care of yourself......

Good to have you here.
Again, welcome.

Phyl

[calimama]

Hi Carlita...

Very sorry to hear of your troubles, and glad they are in the past. I hope your recovery moves along and you find some help and support here.

Trish

[lacey7]

Hi Carlita,
I'm so sorry for everything you've been thru.  I'm so glad you found this site.  I've had so many questions answered, and found people who've been thru similar things.
It's very helpful.  I hope you find this to be true, too.
I had my AN surgery, then had to go back in the hospital after I was home 3 days, b/c I had a spinal fluid leak.  Had to have more surgery done the next morning.
Nothing like you had to go thru, tho.
I'm learning that it will take us longer to heal.  How are you feeling now, since it's been since March?
I hope and pray that you get all your facial muscle functions back and SOON!
Take care,
Lacey

[Kaybo]

Hi Carlita!
Sounds like we have a LOT in common - we're both from TEXAS and I was 25 when I had surgery for a "HUGE" tumor.  I was only in surgery for 14 hours, so you beat me out by an hour!!  )  I would love to chat with you -send me a PM if you would like to chat on the phone!

Nice to meet ya!
K

[MAlegant]

Hey there Carlita,
Wow have you been through it!  I hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly and without any complications.  I also hope that your smile returns, or at least gets closer.  I'm just one week post op and the right side of my face is pretty numb so I can't chew on that side without chewing on myself and spilling food, not a pretty picture but very amusing for friends and family.  Hang in there and use the support you will find on this wonderful forum.
Best,
Marci

[fbarbera]

Hello Carlita, Thanks for introducing yourself.  We're all here for support when you need it.  It's not so fun at time for sure, but we're in it together!  I know it's tough but hang in there and try to stay strong, positive and hopeful.  Things get better day by day.  Francesco

[cmp]

Hi Carlita--

I'm sorry to hear how rough a road you have been on this year, and hope you are feeling much much better at this point.

My original AN was 5 cm, like yours (I just had a second surgery for its recurrence at the end of June), and like you I had the 7-12 anastomosis. It took me about 6 months to see results from that procedure, so although I can imagine how hard it is for you to sit tight at this point, you'll probably need to wait a bit longer. (I am very pleased with the results from my nerve graft; though my facial function will never be what it was before, it's far better than before and I'm pretty comfortable with it).

Good luck, and do let us know how you're doing!

Carrie

[satman]

hi carlita,i live in dallas and i can relate to your experiance.
the good thing is the surgery is over,now the healing begins.
i know it's hard to hear but time and patience is what you must deal with now.
a pos attitude goes a long way.

[Jim Scott]

Hi, Carlita and welcome. 

I'm sorry to learn of your complications with AN surgery and can only say that I hope and pray you're firmly on the road to recovery. 

Thanks so much for making your presence known.  We like to encourage and (when asked) advise people who are struggling but we can't do that if we don't know about them.  Now, we are aware of you and your struggles connected to AN surgery.  I can guarantee you that, starting today, prayers will be said for you and encouragement offered to you.  As you probably know by now, patience is a mandatory virtue when dealing with AN surgery ramifications, as you are, and I trust that yours will pay off very soon.

Jim

[Sammict]

Hi Carlita

I am sorry to hear about all you are going through. I am glad you found this site. There are great people here we all support each other.

I hope it helps you in your healing journey.


Sam

[carlita]

Thank you to everybody, it's not realy good to know that also some other people have gone trough similar experience like mine, but glad to know i have support and that there are people who actually knows how this feels. God bless you all, i am looking forward to keep talking with yall 

[carlita]

something i forgot to say is my horrible stomach scar, my surgeon told me i can get plastic surgery but i dunno yet how much the insurance will cover yet?

[Mickey]

My prayers are with you! Here`s hoping to see you on this board and improving day by day. God Bless, Mickey

[Debbi]

Hi Carlita-

And, a belated welcome to our little group.  You've definitely had a rough time, but hopefully your days ahead will be brighter.

About the belly scar - in my experience, most insurance will not cover it at all because it is considered "cosmetic" and therefore not necessary.  What I can suggest is that you try rubbing an anti-scar oil into it daily.  I've been using something called Bio-Oil that I found at the drug store for about a month now and am seeing an improvement already.  There are lots of products out there, and I'm sure that they all work.  If you have a big knot of scar tissue under the incision (like I do!) you might find that a little massage each day helps to break down the scar tissue, too.

Again, welcome to our "club"!

Debbi