I recently had my ten-year followup. Hubby and I were delighted to learn that the MRI shows no change compared to a year ago. I made the mistake of not getting copies of my post surgery films (which are now irretrievable), so we had to establish a new baseline. I will have another followup in a year and, if the MRI is still stable, then I move to the biannual followups. Moral of that story - get and keep copies of your post surgery MRIs.
I've sort of been dropping in on the ANA forum for a couple of months and reliving my early post-surgery days through you all. I did have some facial nerve swelling after ceasing the steroids, but my eye works fine and my face is now about as symmetrical as the average person's - which means I look normal but not perfectly even. That tingling along the incision line finally stopped sometime in the past couple of years - it didn't hurt, was just weird; now there is actually normal feeling in the skin. I am alas SSD - I tried the 2 hearing aids with the wire approach, but gave it up when I had to wear glasses to see - too much hardware behind the ears caused headaches. I've learned to compensate and most folks have no idea I am SSD.
I went back to work 5 weeks after surgery; people were very kind and mostly relieved to discover that I was still alive and looking relatively normal. I resumed my career and worked until my company's early retirement age. Now I enjoy life, visit family and friends, volunteer, take piano lessons, and (did I say) enjoy life. And generally I don't even think about the AN anymore.
All in all, ten years after the most traumatic day of my life, life is good. In a few days, I'll stop checking in on the forum and get on with living. I wish you each a speedy and full recovery. May you enjoy the holidays and soon be back to enjoying your normal life.
Best regards to all,
Rosemary
