@glen0708 Hi Glen. I'm a Mayo spine neuro surgery patient. What I understand is that if you have an issue at your skull base, you need a real expert who specializes in skull base surgery. A lot of spine surgeons don't want to operate at C3 or above, and your phrenic nerve that innervates the lungs for breathing exits the spine around C3 increasing risk. Prior to my spine surgery, I had muscle spasms moving my C1 & C2 around and causing vertigo on and off until my physical therapist realigned my C spine. That can also be a symptom of serious problems, and I think it was the one of the reasons that I was refused help by 5 spine surgeons before I came to Mayo. Mayo does have neurosurgeons who specialize in skull base surgeries. Since you have such a rare tumor, you should get help from a place like Mayo that is experienced and willing to do more difficult surgeries. I wish I had come there first and it was worth it to travel for the care that gave me my life back. I had spinal cord compression that kept getting worse over the 2 years that no one would help me. Mayo also has the Proton beam therapy that you can learn about in recent the Ken Burns documentary about Mayo. I've had a great recovery and the quality of my care at Mayo was unmatched anywhere else. If I can answer any questions, just ask. Choose your surgeon carefully and do your best to understand their capabilities. I was reading the medical literature authored by my Mayo surgeon and that was how I knew he would understand my case. I had unusual symptoms with pain all over my body that was caused by spinal cord compression in my neck and all 5 missed the diagnosis. I found medical literature with similar cases and I sent that with my request to be seen at Mayo, and the Mayo surgeon understood what all the others had missed. My story will be featured in the Sharing Mayo Clinic blog soon. I'm a fine artist and was loosing my ability to do my paintings, and my surgeon gave that back to me.