GlocknSpiehl Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 For those who may not know, I'm a Nuclear Medicine Technologist: I work with radioactive drugs all day and am exposed to a good deal of radiation "safely". About two years ago I noticed I was losing hearing in my left ear. Figured it was from my misspent youth as a DJ playing loud music in my ears. Finally got so bad I couldn't hear my partner in the control room, so I went to the Dr down the hall who specialized in hearing loss. Had a battery of tests which showed a mild 30% loss in the right ear and a whopping 68% on the left. The doc said, "Well, when we see that big a difference I like to get an MRI of the brain just to make sure there's nothing mechanically wrong in there." So, a couple weeks, an 15 mg of Valium later, (I am SOOOOO claustro) I got an MRI of the brain. When my coworker pulled me out, I could tell by her face it wasn't good. As a matter of fact, it was what we call a "Janitor Picture". That's where the Janitor can look at the images and say, "WhooWee, that ain't right!" Got our Neuro Rad to read it and he said, "Congrats, you're 1 in 100,000! You have a Vestibular Schwanoma." It's a benign tumor of the hearing nerve closest to the brain stem. Mine is 2 cm in diameter and just starting to press on the brain stem, which has been why I've been having mild balance issues, weird head aches, and the hearing loss. Long story short, I'm having brain microsurgery next month to get it out. I'll be left deaf in my left ear and will have to rehab to get my balance back, but it is benign. The bad news is no driving for 6 months, severely restricted for what I can do at work for at least the same. E.G. no lifting over 5 lbs, no bending, no standing for long periods. I can't even go back to work til I'm "medically cleared", not even to push papers around. Ah well, could be worse. Anyhow, if you have a dramatic loss of hearing over time in one ear, go get it checked out. The Doc told me this is like Pancreatic cancer, most people don't find it until the tumor is 5 cm, and then the surgery is much more complicated and difficult. 3 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, GlocknSpiehl said: For those who may not know, I'm a Nuclear Medicine Technologist: I work with radioactive drugs all day and am exposed to a good deal of radiation "safely". About two years ago I noticed I was losing hearing in my left ear. Figured it was from my misspent youth as a DJ playing loud music in my ears. Finally got so bad I couldn't hear my partner in the control room, so I went to the Dr down the hall who specialized in hearing loss. Had a battery of tests which showed a mild 30% loss in the right ear and a whopping 68% on the left. The doc said, "Well, when we see that big a difference I like to get an MRI of the brain just to make sure there's nothing mechanically wrong in there." So, a couple weeks, an 15 mg of Valium later, (I am SOOOOO claustro) I got an MRI of the brain. When my coworker pulled me out, I could tell by her face it wasn't good. As a matter of fact, it was what we call a "Janitor Picture". That's where the Janitor can look at the images and say, "WhooWee, that ain't right!" Got our Neuro Rad to read it and he said, "Congrats, you're 1 in 100,000! You have a Vestibular Schwanoma." It's a benign tumor of the hearing nerve closest to the brain stem. Mine is 2 cm in diameter and just starting to press on the brain stem, which has been why I've been having mild balance issues, weird head aches, and the hearing loss. Long story short, I'm having brain microsurgery next month to get it out. I'll be left deaf in my left ear and will have to rehab to get my balance back, but it is benign. The bad news is no driving for 6 months, severely restricted for what I can do at work for at least the same. E.G. no lifting over 5 lbs, no bending, no standing for long periods. I can't even go back to work til I'm "medically cleared", not even to push papers around. Ah well, could be worse. Anyhow, if you have a dramatic loss of hearing over time in one ear, go get it checked out. The Doc told me this is like Pancreatic cancer, most people don't find it until the tumor is 5 cm, and then the surgery is much more complicated and difficult. Put your trust in those who deal with this. I know two people that thought they had come to the end with benign brain tumors, only to have them removed and now they are back to dealing with real life. Glad that you found it early...... ps. I only know two people that had this affliction and both are recovered. That's not much of a sample size, but a significant recovery rate. Edited June 18, 2019 by janice6 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerford Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Sorry to hear it happened, glad to hear it should be treatable and mostly recoverable. Hoping it will go even better than they predict. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrB Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 I hope everything turns out well. Take care and get well.... Dave.. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SigMan Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 I'm glad you caught it early. I wish you a fast an uneventful recovery. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipedreams Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Dang, hang in there! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OGW Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Best wishes, GnS, glad it's benign and can be repaired! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWalrad Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Best thoughts and wishes headed your way. Please keep us updated on your progress. Reach out if you need to talk. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPTim Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 2 hours ago, racerford said: Sorry to hear it happened, glad to hear it should be treatable and mostly recoverable. Hoping it will go even better than they predict. Very funny, it’s not nice to make fun of the deef. ? Can’t wait to “hear” what you have next. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silentpoet Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 I’m glad to see you have a positive attitude about it. Sometimes with health issues that’s the hardest part. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWARREN123 Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Catch it early enough and being benign and removable is good. Hope everything goes really well and you get back to speed fast. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Related: I had a benign tumor the size of a baseball removed from the outside of my stomach with no after effects. I believe you will have the same good results. GL. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Best wishes, amigo. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bish1309 Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Wishing you a swift and speedy recovery and hoping the time in between is comfortable. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deputy tom Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 I'm glad they discovered what the problem is and can remove it. Prayers sent for a successful operation and quick and complete healing. tom. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 I am glad it is benign, hopefully they can extract it to be sure. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holyjohnson Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Prayers and Best wishes for a perfect surgery and full fast recovery. God Bless and stay strong. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Czervik Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Prayers for a speedy recovery. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F14Scott Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Tough break, kid. Glad you've got such PMA and are rolling with the punches. Keep us updated and hang in there. Strength!If it jams, force it; if it breaks, it needed replacing, anyway. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerford Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 On 6/18/2019 at 7:54 PM, NPTim said: Very funny, it’s not nice to make fun of the deef. ? Can’t wait to “hear” what you have next. Really and truly, no pun was intended. In hindsight, it was a poor choice of words. Especially since I read it instead of heard it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadbart Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Looking forward to hearing about better than expected results! All my best. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBull 301 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Glad you found it early. Hopefully you have a successful surgery and a quick recovery. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPTim Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 3 hours ago, racerford said: Really and truly, no pun was intended. In hindsight, it was a poor choice of words. Especially since I read it instead of heard it. Dude the smiles indicate I was just messing with you and making light of a heavy situation. I’m inappropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerford Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 12 hours ago, NPTim said: Dude the smiles indicate I was just messing with you and making light of a heavy situation. I’m inappropriate. I truly deserved being messed with. Sometimes, you look at what you wrote and go “if only I drank or did drugs I would have an excuse for how I worded that”. Good news is that it is a benign tumor, making light of a heavy situation in this case is an ok thing to do. Much better than thinking someone is joking about some terrible thing....... and they are not ?? Praying for a stellar outcome for the surgery. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huski92 Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 Good luck. Sounds like a rough recovery, but with a good outcome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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