The Question List

Two big appointments tomorrow. Luckily the past few days have gone by pretty quickly. It seems I have an up week, then a down week. This is a down week. Headaches, neck aches, dizziness, nausea. I even had to take a couple zofrans. I'm not weak and I cope well, I mean my first baby was a 9#4oz homebirth after a 24 hour labor. But if there are two things I cannot stand they are headaches and nausea. The dizziness is just obnoxious. Sitting here now, if I lay my head back and look up at the ceiling I feel like my face is swirling around in a circle and my eyes can't stay still. Still haven't outright fallen over but I always have that fear.

I also keep getting this weird feeling that comes in waves, where it feels like my head is filling up with goo and swelling, and my ears start to feel like they need to "pop", but of course I can't pop them. It gets to a point and then just goes away. ??

I'm trying to work on my list of questions, and this is what I've got. I hope it covers everything! And even more than that, I hope he can answer all these questions.

-Do you think this is a vestibular schwannoma or a meningioma? Why? Does it make any difference for surgery or outcomes? Does it look like there is a cystic component (if so, what does that mean)?
-Are my symptoms (or lack thereof) typical?
-How many tumors of this size / position have you treated? How many of people my age? Any chance of NF2?
-Which surgical approach will we be using? Why?
-Can you give me the full step-by-step of the proceedure?

• Is anything used to fill the void?
  
• Is the bone placed back in alone or titanium or what?
  
• How much hair gets cut?
• Do you retract the cerebellum? What kinds of effects does this / may this have?
• Is a drain in the back standard?
  

-How many people will be in the operating room and what are their jobs?
-How long will the surgery take? How long in the hospital? How long for recovery?
-What kinds of outcomes should I expect? Given your experience and the details of my tumor, what rates should I expect of -

• Regrowth? Inability to remove it all?
• Hearing preservation?
• Tinnitus?
• Facial paralysis, taste problems, swallowing problems, facial pain / numbness?
• Eye problems?
• Balance problems?
• Headaches? (Esp with the retrosidmoid approach)
• Cognitive problems, fatigue, depression?
• CSF leaks?
• Hydrocephalus?
• Meningitis?
• Seizures?
• Death? (From what?)

-Medications - Anything I need to take preop? What will I be given postop?
-What is the frequency of postop MRIs?
-What kind of preop things need to be done now / what is the next step?
-What things should I be avoiding / not doing right now?
-When can we do this thang??

I'm getting nervous again. Everything seems fine until I think BRAIN SURGERY, and then it's scary. I don't know if I'll feel better or worse after tomorrow, but hopefully I'll at least be less confused. Half the things I read sound like there is a hard road in front of me, half sound like this is so common it's no big deal. But neither half has my exact tumor and brain, so who knows?