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Post by mjj on Feb 15, 2014 17:47:45 GMT -6
ps my tumor was 3.5 cm, half a walnut
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Post by samuridude on Feb 16, 2014 9:56:13 GMT -6
After reading other posts it appears I am recovering extremely fast from the surgery. Getting through the one surgery was tough enough (yes I realize my experience was A typical, the doc says I was an A typical patient with an A typical procedure); Your tumor was quite low in the spine making recovery much easier.
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Post by mjj on Feb 16, 2014 14:57:25 GMT -6
it was a large tumor, half a walnut. and there are 3 other little ones that are to be observed that I hope do not grow.
i also believe that my recovery is easier because i was a gym rat; thus going into surgery i was in top shape, except for the fact i could not balance/run (i did step master)
mj
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Post by samuridude on Feb 16, 2014 18:42:34 GMT -6
it was a large tumor, half a walnut. and there are 3 other little ones that are to be observed that I hope do not grow. i also believe that my recovery is easier because i was a gym rat; thus going into surgery i was in top shape, except for the fact i could not balance/run (i did step master) mj I was in excellent physical condition prior surgery too. I’ve been a athlete all my life and was also a gym rat. I’m 53 years old. My diet has always consisted of healthy food, never much of a fast food / junk food kind of person. My doctors didn’t have much to go on because I don’t have much of a medical history at all. The only time I’ve gone to the doctor in the past 25 years was for back pain which was never diagnosed properly. I’m not diminishing your fast recovery, in fact it’s great. The issue is, the higher the tumor, the more organ and limbs are effected. Recovery time can be different for extramedullary vs intramedullary tumors also.Some people still have a portion of tumor left after surgery making recovery slower. I’m curious about your other smaller tumors, did they talk to you about radiation? -Good health
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Post by mjj on Feb 16, 2014 23:43:08 GMT -6
all that has been mentioned so far is monitoring for the other small tumors. the doc is supposed to call me wednesday, he already told me it was a Schwannoma, but he is to provide the details. in mid march i see him for the post op.
this has not been a good time!
samuridude - you sound a lot like me (52 male/gym rat). heck i saw a doc 10 years ago for a sprained ankle. it was my back pain (herniated disk)/gait/balance that prompted me to go to a doc!
however i do sense i am regaining balance/coordination but feel only about 60%. but each day things seam to get better, but i am nervous.
mj
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Post by samuridude on Feb 17, 2014 11:37:29 GMT -6
samuridude - you sound a lot like me (52 male/gym rat). heck i saw a doc 10 years ago for a sprained ankle. it was my back pain (herniated disk)/gait/balance that prompted me to go to a doc! That’s some coincidence, I sprained my ankle about 10 years ago too. I’ve come to my own conclusion that spraining my ankle was associated with the tumor. I got out of my car, took two steps and rolled my ankle. It was my left ankle, and my left leg coordination was mostly effected by the tumor.
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Post by mjj on Feb 22, 2014 11:07:46 GMT -6
it was both legs for me; but since the tumor has been removed i am regaining my balance :-).
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bryang
Junior Member
Posts: 11
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Post by bryang on Feb 26, 2014 21:14:54 GMT -6
(November 2013 post) Hi - I just found this forum - also just found a possible Schwannoma on my spine. I say possible Schwannoma because I haven't had surgery yet. I don't have any pain, I went to he ER a few weeks ago because I was having shortness of breath and they found this thing on a chest X-Ray - they said its 4cm and they thought it was in my lung. The shortness of breath was likely incidental. A CT the following day showed its not in my lung, its on my thoracic spine t9-t10 (not in my canal), I immediately saw a local neurosurgeon who had me get an MRI, from the results he thought it looks like a benign schwannoma but he was concerned about what looks to be a hemorrhage inside of the tumor. I also told him that I have a chest xray of the same spot from back in 2009 from when I had pneumonia and it was definitely not there 4 years ago. He wanted to just monitor the growth. I didn't feel very settled so I had an appointment with a top NS from NYU Medical. He said that he is concerned that because he thinks its growing rapidly and he thinks the spot inside of it is a hemorrhage he's worried that although rare this could signify a transformation to a malignancy and that I should have immediate surgery. Doesn't sound like fun - he said he can do it arthroscopically but they have to deflate the lung and all that good stuff. Anyway - not the diagnosis I wanted to hear so I had a third opinion from a top guy at Sloan Kettering who completely disagreed with the second guy who he knows very well and speaks very highly of. He said that he doesn't think that its a hemorrhage inside of the tumor but he thinks its a cyst and a cyst inside a schwannoma is more common and doesn't signify anything. He said he was going to call the other guy and hash it out. Then I told him about the 2009 XRay showing that it wasn't there and that concerned him because he said the normal growth rate for these things is supposed to be 1-2mm per year and mine is 4cm so if it really wasn't there 4 years ago then its growing at 40 times the rate it should. Which in his mind still doesn't mean cancer it could just mean a very aggressively growing benign tumor. I have a follow up appointment with him tomorrow to get his determination. I also have a 4th opinion appointment in 3 days with a new guy. Maybe a 5th opinion is in order too. Is it a hemorrhage or a cyst on the tumor? Apparently the correct answer is pretty important and I guess there is know way to know besides biopsy or surgery. I was wondering if anyone else presented with a hemorrhage or cyst inside of the tumor? I'm also wondering what the recovery from the surgery is like. How long before one can get back to work? I run my own business but from mainly behind a desk. After 6 opinions from top neurosurgeons and with half of them agreeing that they didnt like what they see and thought the cyst could represent malignant change I had the surgery on January 21 at Columbia Presbyterian in NYC. My surgeon was one of the 6 nuerosurgeons that gave their opinion, he runs the spine center there and I felt very comfortable with his experience. I chose him because of the 6 he was the only one who as part of his planned procedure didnt involve deflating my lung and going through my chest to get to it. He went through the back by removing a section of my rib. The surgery was a long 4 hours and in of itself was a total success. Pathology took a week for results but he said visually it looked OK. Their was a big cyst on and in the tumor but he felt that it hadn't changed to cancer and ultimately pathology confirmed that and it was a schwannoma. I was supposed to be in the hospital for 3 nights but in recovery my vitals was a bit unstable. I had a 103 fever and my resting heartrate was 130. After being under for 4 hours your resting heartrate really should be 60-70 tops. They were very concerned and a deep vein doppler test proved me to have a DVT (blood clot) in my jugular vein, they were now concerned about the possibility of a pulmonary embolism so they rushed me to a CT which i couldnt get because I'm alergic to the contrast then they rushed me to nuclear medicine where I had to inhail radioactive gas then put me in a big scanning machine, this confirmed 4 large clots in my lung, now they knew i was having a pulmonary embolism and things really got nuts from there. I didnt realize this at the time but the reason they were so concerned is because 30% of people who get a PE die and mine was the type of size to kill. Bottom line is they got me on strong blood thinners and i had to be there for over a week. I'm home now, the pain from the surgery is getting easier everyday. when i got home i made the mistake of doing a few physical things like play with my two young boys who were so happy when i came home. i paid for that - the movement aggravated the wound and the pain was worse a couple of days after i got home then when they released me. The key is (in my case anyway) to stay in bed and not do anything for a while. let yourself heal. I'll be on blood thinners for either 3 to 6 months or the rest of my life depending on some blood tests we have to do. But it seems the worst is behind me.
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Post by dolphintale on Feb 27, 2014 13:24:42 GMT -6
Good to hear from you....listen to your body and rest when it tells you to. Praying you continue with a speedy recovery.
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bryang
Junior Member
Posts: 11
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Post by bryang on Feb 27, 2014 19:28:43 GMT -6
Thank You!
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