Friday, February 20, 2015

Health Update....at home lengthy recovery

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE KIND WORDS, WELL WISHES, THOUGHTS, AND PRAYERS.  I'm still very tired and weak at the moment, but at home.




Had surgery Feb. 10, was in the ICU most of the following day and left the hospital 3 days after the surgery, 11 hour surgery, the surgical team had estimated that would take about 6 hours. Pretty grueling on the body, the surgical team of 5 doctors, and especially the family.  


The surgery used sacrificed all of the hearing in my left ear in order to get at an Acoustic Neuroma, tumor, and essentially peel it away, through microsurgery. Only got about 95% of the tumor, so as not risk further damage to my facial nerves.  It is a Schwannoma tumor, which could come back, MRI in 3 months to check on it.  But now that its a smaller it gives more options to deal with it, and gives me a chance to recover movement in the left side of my face, which of course the left eye is the largest concern.  Walking slowly and doing some knee lifts and minor one leg balance exercise occassionally, a bit unsteady, and slow. Mind is sharp, just speech is slow from the numbness.

But I have noticed progress in just a few days.  ENT specialist thought 90% chance of recovery in 3 months. Lead neuro-surgeon thought more like 6 months with possibly full recovery in year.
 

10 comments:

  1. Wow, 11 hours of surgery sounds brutal.... here's to a good recovery!

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  2. Glad to hear that you are recovering. Best of luck mate.

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  3. All the best wishes for you, sir!

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  4. Sincere wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

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  5. Prayers for your speedy recovery, PC. Wow, didn't know of the seriousness; you sound like you're in good/strong spirit.

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  6. Thank you for all your support. This will be a struggle, but prospects look fairly good. I'll be damned if I am not on race track this season.

    My face is kind of like a stroke victim's at the moment. The tumor was pinching the facial, balance, and hearing nerves. There were chances of cancer, and stroke, but they were very small for this. Still run risk with my left eye at the moment, but it appears to be improving. Still run risk of spinal and brain leakage, but that seems slim.

    Balance loss on the left was significant prior to surgery, but my body was already compensating and I have not had the extreme nausea and vertigo most have after surgery for this. Hearing loss on the left was inevitable.

    And I got 40 staples in my head to boot.

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  7. Good luck with the recovery. Can't wait to see some models again from you.

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