15 Month Update
Fifteen months post-op and I am facing the possibility that my tumor has returned. My next MRI is in May.
For the past couple of months I have been experiencing pre-surgery symptoms at an alarming rate. This, of course, could mean something else entirely (another good reason for the upcoming MRI), yet those same symptoms that pushed me to find out what was wrong with me before are back. This includes dizziness, confusion, headaches, balance issues, ringing and pulsing in the left ear, and sound and light issues. Despite the type of tumor I had being very rare, it is not uncommon for these tumors to return. Since my surgery I have found a very small community of glomus jugulare tumor survivors, and a few of them have had multiple tumors removed over the years. This is not easy, and they all have issues due to multiple tumors removed (mainly nerve damage in the head, face, and neck), but this could be a reality I will soon be facing.
Again, though, these symptoms could be due to something else entirely (possible Meniere's Disease like once thought/diagnosed).
Life fifteen months out is not so different from the last time I updated. I am sadly at my heaviest weight. Since my surgery I have developed osteoarthritis in my right knee, and that combined with my dizziness makes it very hard to get up and exercise. I am doing what I can, though. I am eating healthier as of late and making an effort to get up and out when I am feeling good. I am trying natural herbs (celery being one) and a more relaxed way of living (meditation, etc.).
I still have pain in my head and neck in the nerves, especially during storms and stress, yet that is such a "new normal" for me that I am used to it and don't notice it like I once did. I am more emotionally balanced than I was - depression and such haven't had much of a hold on me for a while. I am much more comfortable, emotionally, with a post-brain tumor life and all that comes with that.
My family is strong and happy. If another tumor happens to come my way I feel like we will be able to deal with it on a much stronger emotional level than we did the first time around.