Schwannoma tumor (Nowotwór nerwiak schwannona)

I am 66 years old with high blood pressure and bone spurs all over from sitting around for years, thinking I had dementia. I was misdiagnosed, taking 21 pills a day for eight years. I spent my time watching goldfish grow. Anyway, I am off all meds except BP meds, blood thinner, and colestoral med. I am clear-headed and free of headaches. Aging has become harder now because I want to do things again. I want to have a say in how I do things, when I do things.

But now I have Bob. I named my Swannoma "Bob". Bob is 2.4 cm and shaped like a small pecan laid out across my left ear hearing nerve. Bob messes with my left facial nerve from time to time. I used to think I was having mini strokes. My left eye would droop, and my left face would be kind of numb to the touch. I would get tired, go to bed, and sleep all day and night.

Anyway, I have consulted with two Neurosurgery teams: Assencian Sacred Heart, Pensacola, FL, and Skull Base at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN. They both recommended the Gamma Knife procedure. But I do not want radiation pellets in my head. It's a personal preference thing for me. With the Gamma Knife, they stick a needle into the tumor and inject the radiation pellets. This supposedly stops the tumor from growing. It does not cause it to go away. Over time, the tumor may start growing again. So they may repeat the procedure as needed every few years. Of course, it is monitored by MRI every few months, biannually, or annually. There is only a minor recovery period (three days, then back to work). It's outpatient surgery. However, once they put radiation in the tumor, you are committed to staying on this treatment path. No one will do the surgery to actually remove the tumor once radiation has been implanted. The pisser about having the surgery is that sometimes the surgeon can not remove all of the tumor because it has grown onto the facial nerve. Then the tumor grows back, and you have to have the Gamma Knife procedure anyway. In my case, we are just going to monitor it in a year to see how fast it's growing. As you have researched yourself, the surgery to remove the tumor is 9-11 hours long. Then the recovery can be months to a year. I appreciated the honesty from Vanderbilt. The surgeon let me know that in her experience, no one comes out of surgery without some kind of side effect. Whenever they crack the skull, you will never be the same again. You can understand some of what she means by checking out YouTube. I was freaked out for a couple of months as well. But my wife and I and the surgeons are all on the same page. I am not having the surgery until Bob starts affecting my bodily functions. They say it will eventually kill you. But, so can the surgery. I've heard good things about a neurosurgeon in Arizona. It may be worth the trip. Hay lets keep in touch. Message me on Facebook.

Vestibular Schwannoma is a non-cancerous tumor and is slow-growing. I'm told the growth rate is about a millimeter a year.