9-15-14

Today Aaron and I met with another surgeon. This time it was a neuro ENT guy who does the surgery in collaboration with a neurosurgeon. When we first got there, for some reason he felt the need to tell Aaron how MRIs work in detail (polarization of water and veins show up better than arteries and other stuff). If was fine, and maybe a little amusing on my end. When you look at my MRI, there is no doubt there is something going on, no matter if you understand the physics behind it or not.

Once he analyzed my MRI, he felt like it needed to be dealt with in 2 stages (just like the other guy), but the difference was, that he wanted to do two surgeries separated by 3 or so months.  When I heard that, my heart sank.  I don't want to do two surgeries. Still, if it is better, well, then that is what I need to do. We asked him about a second surgery vs radiation and he immediately knew who we went to for our other opinion.  He stated that both approaches were fine, but he preferred surgery because radiation always carries some risk of cancer and if there is a small piece that is not irradiated, the acoustic neuroma might grow back.

After we left the office Aaron and I got talking. His reasons weren't enough to convince me I would need another whole surgery with the long recovery. I will probably have a brain MRI every year for the rest of my life. If the neuroma is still there, we will see it and monitor it. The risk of cancer from the radiation is very very low. They use a low amount and it is very directed.

Also, we met him, but not the neurosurgeon, who would be doing most of the surgery.  We looked him up and he is younger than our other doctor, so he has less experience. That can count for a lot.

Because of these reasons, we decided to go with the first neurosurgeon. We don't have an official date yet, but likely the end of this month, or beginning of next.

I am going back to work tomorrow. I will try to keep up normal appearances, but it will only be a mask.