Pre-Op Meeting @ SBIReunión con Dr. @ SBI
Posted by admin in Diary: Dx,Tx and Recovery 2006, tags: Tumor diaryWednesday, November 22, 11:43 PM
Drove from culver city up to Skull Base Institute at Cedar Sinai at 130 today.
the preop meeting went ok.
Roxy welcomed us into the office, had to clean some dust off the table in the conference room,
then Matt head assisstant to Dr. Shahinian gave us a debriefing on what was to come,
it seemed they were walking on eggshells, and when the Doc came in to introduce himself it is understandable.
this guy walks around with a whip I am sure-was impatient with his staff somewhat on the orginizational aspects of the meeting, etc.
He gave the typical risks, loss of hearing, facial nerve, blood clotting, etc, -and proceeded to view my xray MRI that I had packed all the way from Seattle.
He stated the tumor was a grade 4, described the resection and procedure.
He appeared to be tired of us asking the question about bleeding if it did occur, and brought up his competitors, and critics “that don’t know about the procedure” etc. IMHO, that stuff should never be mentioned to a pt.
I mentioned Dr. Jho did it on the East coast-endo resection, and he spoke highly of him and stated that he would even advise people on the east coast to go to him, if they could not make it to CA.
I was then escorted into another room for ultrasound of carotid arteries and heart circulation.
This was run by another agency.
MEDIGOR DIAGNOSTIC,
Seemed to have connections with Shahinian.
Shahinian also educated me to the fact that my numbness on my lips,tongue and nose were from the tumor pressuring against my TRIGEMINAL nerve, not my facial nerve as I had previously thought.
Facial nerve is strictly MOTOR skills, movement, etc, while the Trigeminal is Sensation, taste, etc.
I have other thoughts on the whole experience and interactions with Shahinian and the agency as a whole, but I will share that with AN parties interested and those I know from AN support forums.
-Chopper and Eron-re: post op leg pain, it is due to being down on your side, he pads between the legs, pillows, gel packs etc, but he said “tall people are heavier,” and gave me a blank stare smirk when I asked if Range of Motion could be done on the legs every once in a while during the procedure.
I suppose the smirk was from thinking that with invasive instruments up my head through the dime size hole-near my cerebellum, they’d be stupid to move me around.
I later thought that was a stupid question when I imagined my head as a smoothie machine. http://tinyurl.com/y3eug8
after the meeting, we drove up to Hollywood and Vine.
pix posted soon asap when I buy a usb cord.
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Hi, really glad to hear that things went well for you and that three years later things appear as good as can reasonably be hoped for. I’m very happy for you.
I’m thinking of having Dr. Shahinian doing an endoscopic microvascular decompression to help stop the ceaseless severe pain from trigeminal neuralgia. As per your statement above that you would share your experiences with the doctor (albeit with AN related people, which I am not; do people with trigeminal neuralgia count?), I would be extremely grateful if you would share them with me, which I promise I would keep confidential.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Russell
PS If you would put KillKuato in the subject line of an email if you do reply, I’d appreciate it, since I’d then know not to delete it.
I glad to hear that you’ve recovered as well as possible.
I too am thinking about having an MVD with Dr Shahinian for trigeminal neuralgia.
Would you mind sharing your thoughts about him in an e-mail? All in confidence of course.
Thanks,
Linda
I understand that Trigeminal Neuralgia is the most painful diagnosis in the world. Dr. Shahinian has done many endoscopic procedures for this type of disorder. When I had my AN removed, I understood he was up at 430am every day in the Gym working out, would visit his patients shortly after, then do a brain surgery. The guy is an endurance surgeon.