I can't believe I've only found this forum today, nearly four months after my surgery. Here's my recap:
After the sudden onset of dizziness at the beginning of April, this spring/summer didn't go exactly as planned. My primary care physician (bless him) ordered an MRI after just a couple of weeks of dizziness and found a small (5mm) AN on my right side. He sent me to a local ENT, who sent me to Yale, but also suggested I consider the House Clinic. I initially disregarded the House Clinic recommendation, as the prospect of getting from Connecticut to LA for surgery, getting my children cared for, etc. just seemed to large to deal with.
I met with the doctor at Yale, who confirmed the diagnosis, but took the "wait and see" attitude. A couple of days later I was browsing the web and looked up the House site. Then, noticing that they do phone consultations for out-of-town potential patients, I sent my MRI and records in and requested a call. I was amazed when a couple days later Dr. Luxford from the House Clinic called and spent 45 minutes(!) on the phone with me explaining and answering questions. Suddenly, the House Clinic seemed like a possibility. Dr. Schwarz called me a couple days later and confirmed the feeling that the doctors at the House Clinic are the best in their field. It seemed that a Middle Fossa was the best approach.
Twenty years ago, my wife had brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic to remove a malignant glioblastoma. Her doctors in Seattle, when it was clear the mass on her MRI had changed, sent her to Minnesota for the surgery and she never regretted it (she's had a clean bill of health since then!). It's not that her doctors were incompetent, it was that at the Mayo her case was routine; significant, but routine. She had the same attitude about this surgery -- the doctors at Yale are fantastic, but this was not routine for them. We talked with friends and parents, prayed A LOT, and decided to pursue the House Clinic. By this time my balance had deteriorated and I was using a cane... but I never had any other symptoms.
Then we had to wait for the insurance company. After several weeks and several delays, including several aborted trips to the airport, we finally got surgery approved with Dr. Luxford and Dr. Hitselberger, instead of Dr. Schwarz. (Ironically, while in LA I met a man whose insurance company objected to Hitselberger and approved Schwarz instead... go figure!) Surgery was scheduled for June 17 and we rebooked tickets from JFK to LAX. My kids (13 and 10) stayed with friends for the first few days until my parents could get to Connecticut from Seattle, my wife's mom flew down from Spokane to LA to be with Laine, and we flew out on to LA on June 15th and checked into the Seton Guest Center.
June 16 was full of tests, meeting Drs. Luxford, Hitselberger, and Stefan, and another unexpected MRI. Interestingly enough my hearing was actually better in my right ear (the ear with the AN) than the left ear. Due to the the lack of any symptoms other than balance and the small size of the AN they wanted to confirm the tumor before they opened up my head. Everything confirmed, I headed into surgery on June 17th.
I remember being wheeled onto the sixth floor, getting my head shaved, having the anesthesiologist wrestle with my small veins... and then vomiting post-op in ICU some six hours later. Funny what goes through one's head... first thing I did was wiggle my toes. My wife always said that was the first thing she did when she woke up from her surgery --- she had a serious risk of being paralyzed; I didn't -- but that's what stuck in my head. My head was wrapped in gauze, but in my haze I was pretty sure I could hear out of my right ear. I'm a musician and God was gracious enough to let me keep my full hearing through this.
After a day in ICU, I got moved to a regular room where I could actually get some rest. Three days later I was discharged to stay a couple more weeks at Seton Guest Center on the hospital campus. Lots of sleep, lots of audiobooks and music. Things were progressing well and I got to go home on July 1st, a couple days earlier than planned!
By the end of July the pain was pretty much gone. My balance was slowly getting better, and I felt good enough to drive by mid-August. I was out from work through the end of the summer, and went back the week before Labor Day. Mid-September the cane was retired to the coat closet. Finally, beginning of October I felt good enough to try to start exercising again.
Now, a week after getting back to the gym, I seem to be backsliding and my dizziness has gotten much worse. I feel like I've slipped back a month. Really frustrating. So perhaps I wasn't ready. The way I'm feeling today I may need to pull the cane back out, just for that extra point of stability.
And then I ran across this site. What an encouragement!
Blessings,
Timothy
