by Amanda
I was diagnosed with a golf ball sized acoustic neuroma when I was 22. I was terrified until I found an AMAZING surgeon. Dr. Robert Martuza at Mass General in Boston saved my life. My first surgery was 15 hours long. After surgery I had temporary slight paralysis on one side of my face. I also had migraines daily. One year after surgery my doctors noticed the tumor (they did not take it all out because they said it would be too risky) was growing again. I had Proton Radio surgery performed by Dr. Chapman (another amazing doctor) to stop the tumor from growing. After the Proton surgery my tumor was stable for five years. In those five years I married my husband and became pregnant with my daughter. One month after my daughter was born I had an MRI. This MRI showed a significant growth in my tumor along with the growth of a large cyst on the tumor. My doctors decided that the only safe thing to do was surgery again. My daughter was three months old when I had the surgery. Thankfully it only took 6 hours this time. I had no facial paralysis or migraines after the surgery! I felt great almost one week later and went back to my normal life. I have always wanted a lot of children but my doctors said there will always be a risk of the tumor growing if I become pregnant again. I am terrified of the tumor growing so we are adopting the rest of our children. I am optimistic about my future because I am in the hands of an amazing team of doctors. Today my daughter is 16 months old and I am happily married to a wonderful man. I am training for a triathlon and enjoying life. I live in the moment and stay positive. Life is good!
