Oh wow....MRI this Friday :(

[mindyandy]

I called to talk to my dr regarding pressure feeling again . I am 11 month post CK. She called back and wants an MRI this Friday...
I'm scared....
I've already had swelling in my past MRI's....

[carter]

saying a prayer for you.  as i have not had it  yet -- i can't say that i know what it is like.  but please try to enjoy Christmas.  it is one day that you deserve a lot of peace!

carter

[gordy]

i hope all is well. thought id give you a heads up on what was going on here. had my year and a half mri this past monday. measurement is actually where it started. 1.5 cm.  after my 6 month it was 1.75....after a year it was 1.65.....now its 1.5 where it was before i had gamma knife.  i hope this sets you at ease and that it was just swelling and nothing more. happy holidays to everyone.

[Mark]

I called to talk to my dr regarding pressure feeling again . I am 11 month post CK. She called back and wants an MRI this Friday...
I'm scared....
I've already had swelling in my past MRI's....

Mindyandy,

I don't know if this will help, but I'm going on 8 years post CK and I have found that I get pressure in my AN ear for a few weeks every spring and fall. I'm never quite sure if its some minor sinus allergy or reactions to barometric changes as the seasons change, but Dr. Chang's nurse told me several years ago that they have a number of CK and surgery patients that complain of the same thing. My AN at last check was nearly 25% smaller by volume, so it hasn't been related to change in size. I think the MRI is certainly a good idea, but I wanted to offer another alternative explanation ( hopefully more positive)

Best wishes

Mark

[Tumbleweed]

Mark and Mindyandy:

By "pressure," do you mean a sensation of fullness in the ear, or something else? A few people on this forum have mentioned feeling "pressure," and I 'm wondering if this is something different for me to watch out for, as I already experience periods of fullness about once a year or so.

Thanks,
Tumbleweed

[ppearl214]

mindy... has happened to me down the road... we know these things can crop up and keeping fingers crossed that the MRI is ok.  Heck, they may even see a bit of darkening in its core, so maybe that will be seen (keeping fingers crossed). I had post-rad swelling even further down the road and some 'roids helped the cause.

Please hang in there... I'm sending MAJOR huggles for good news.

Phyl

[Mark]

Tumbleweed,

for me it's a little bit of fullness feeling in the affected ear, certainly not any level of discomfort, just noticeable. Sort of like getting a little bit of water in it after a swim. Historically, I seem to notice off and on in the fall and spring and generally around shifts in the weather. For example, here in N calif we get all of our rain for the year in the winter, usually starts early December through March and then nothing the rest of the year. a front moved in this weekend and we're supposed to be rainy throughout the week. I had some pressure the first couple of days and now feel fine. I should probably track it more closely but it doesn't last more than a days so I tend to forget it.

Mark

[mindyandy]

Hey guys...Thanks for the great comfort. My pressure is more next to my nose and eye on AN side. But I dont think its the AN (no ear pressure or hearing problems). I do remember them saying on my last MRI that I had a ethmoid retention cyst. I do feel its my sinuses.

Has anybody here had/have a retention cyst?

[Pascale]

hello

I do also have a cyst on my right sinus (same side of AN) but there is nothing to it. Doctors say it probably can make you sneeze more during spring time or make your allergies worse...but I don't have alleiges, never did. So for me it's just there...

Ask your doctor what that cyst mean and if there's anything you need to do.

Good Luck and happy holidays.

[mindyandy]

WOW. I feel as if we are 2 peas on a pod...LOL
I just feel as if its sinus pressure. I don't know. I will ask after the holidays....

[Tumbleweed]

Has anybody here had/have a retention cyst?

I've got one, too, on the opposite side that my AN is on. It has no relation to the tumor and is not that uncommon. I was told not to worry about it, that it doesn't need any sort of treatment.

Best wishes,
Tumbleweed

[mindyandy]

Hello everybody! I do hope you all had a GREAT holiday.
Well I had my MRI today....11 months post CK....so I guess this would be my 1-year MRI 

Heres my CK journey.....
Post CK November 2007 AN was 14.2mm x 8.7mm
August 2008 AN was 16.3 mm x 10.9 mm (swelling  )
Today December 26, 2008 AN is 14.8 mm x 10.8 mm 
So it shrank just a tad....no darkness  but she says its still really early...
From August to today I'm glad to announce that.
As for my facial pressure (around nose and under eye) she said my sinus's looked ok. Maybe a tad bid of swelling...

She said AN looks good and see me in 6 months...

[sgerrard]

August 2008 AN was 16.3 mm x 10.9 mm (swelling  )
Today December 26, 2008 AN is 14.8 mm x 10.8 mm 

You have turned the corner, it is history now. It can squirm all it wants, but it is now an ex-AN. 

Congratulations on a good MRI.

Steve

[mindyandy]

THANK YOU!!!!!

[windy]

I'm glad to hear you have had shrinkage!  That is a very good sign.  Congrats.......