1. ENT in Springfield: I felt a lot better after talking to someone about my particular tumor. You can drive yourself crazy reading other people’s stories and watching videos on the internet. He suggested the translab approach (behind my ear) and wanted me to meet with his neurosurgeon partner.
2. Chief of neurosurgery at MGH: He outlined the risks involved more thoroughly than the gentleman in Springfield and suggested a two-stage surgery because of the size of my tumor. From my research on the internet, it seems the majority of people have these tumors removed when they are between 1.5 and 2 cm. The largest section of my tumor is 4.8 cm. It is a golf ball pushing against my brainstem and it has to come out.
The first surgery will be on February 13 and the second surgery on March 6 (depending on how I am healing). The second surgery will be more difficult than the first. Initially, the doctor wants to take the middle out of the tumor, he hopes this will cause it to ‘collapse’. He will be removing a section of my cerebellum in order to accomplish the first surgery (bit scary to say the least). During the second surgery my doctor will work with his ENT partner to pull the tumor away from my facial nerve and a few other vital nerves that help you see, balance, and swallow.
