当布兰达·安德森, a 38-year-old marketing manager 和 single mom of two boys, 2018年7月的一天早上醒来, 她一只耳朵听不清楚. It felt like she needed to pop her ear after getting off an airplane. 但是两天后, 当那种感觉还没有消失, she became worried that something was more seriously wrong 和 decided to call a local otolaryngologist (ear, 鼻子, 和喉部医生).
Brenda was initially treated for a viral infection, but after several weeks, that hadn't helped. Doctors knew it was a problem with her nerve but couldn't figure out what was going on, 所以她的耳鼻喉科医生给她开了一个 核磁共振脑部扫描. 那是在一个星期一, 和 when they called her first thing the following morning asking her to come back in, 她知道这可能不是好消息.
“他们说，‘你确实长了肿瘤，’”布兰达说. "'It's quite large, comparable to the size of a golf ball,' at around 4.5 cm." Her mind was racing with a mixture of shock, disbelief, worry, 和 fear. The otolaryngologist (ENT) immediately referred her to Dr. 理查德Gurgel, an ear 和 skull base specialist 和 surgeon in the Division of Otolaryngology at University of Utah Health.
布伦达被诊断出患有 前庭神经鞘瘤, a type of tumor that grows on the hearing 和 balance nerve between the ear 和 the brain. The most common symptoms of these tumors are 听力损失 on one side 和 平衡问题, 例如头晕或不稳定.
Brenda's tumor had grown so large that it was putting pressure on her brain stem, 导致几乎全部 听力损失 在她的左耳. 幸运的是, 肿瘤是良性的。, 大多数前庭神经鞘瘤的情况是什么, 它们通常也长得很慢. But she would need to have surgery 删除 it before it grew large enough to cause damage. Left untreated for a long period of time, it could even be deadly.
"A small percentage of [前庭神经鞘瘤] are related to a genetic syndrome, but most of the ones we see 和 treat are what we call 'sporadic' tumors,” Dr. 威廉•Couldwell 委员会主席 大学的神经外科学系. 他的专长是 颅底手术 删除 脑部肿瘤 给布伦达做手术. "The sporadic ones are usually unilateral—one side—和 they don't have a known genetic predisposition. We don't think it's related to anything in the environment. 大发娱乐只是不知道[是什么引起的]."
Drs. Gurgel 和 Couldwell were both surprised Brenda could go so long with such a large tumor 和 have no symptoms prior to the 听力损失: no migraines, 平衡问题, 或者面部疼痛. 他们立即安排了手术切除它.
布伦达在为8小时的训练做准备 脑部手术, there were a lot of unknowns, including the potential long-term effects. 自 前庭神经鞘瘤 are so close to the facial nerve, any surgery 删除 the tumors runs a risk of causing damage. 如果发生这种情况, Brenda could have facial weakness or even permanent paralysis like visible sagging or drooping on one side of her face for the rest of her life.
“我很激动，”她说. "There's no way you can prepare for this kind of thing." One day you're fine 和 the next your life is upside down. You have moments when you're scared 和 moments when you're feeling really brave."
她担心照顾孩子, 为了手术剃掉了她的长发, 肿瘤是否癌变, 和, 最重要的是, whether she would have temporary or permanent facial paralysis. She was fortunate to have plenty of support from friends 和 family, 包括她妈妈, 谁搬进来帮她恢复了两个月, 还有她的前夫, 谁来照顾孩子们呢.
在手术过程中. Gurgel 和 his team exposed the tumor by drilling through the temporal bone next to the ear. 接下来,博士. Couldwell 和 his team went in 和 carefully removed the tumor in small sections over several hours. 最后,博士. Gurgel came back in to fill the area where the tumor was removed with fatty tissue from Brenda's belly 和 stitch her up. 因为肿瘤的大小, 医生无法保护她的听力, so she is completely (和 permanently) deaf in the left ear. 但她的右耳听力仍然正常.
As is the case for most patients, immediately after surgery, Brenda experienced facial paralysis. 她无法微笑，也无法控制自己的一侧嘴巴, 咀嚼很困难, 她不能完全控制自己的眼皮, 所以她的左眼总是半睁着.
"That was absolutely the worst part of recovery," she said. Despite near-constant eyedrop applications 和 an eye patch that traps moisture, 她的眼睛总是又痒又干, 她不得不在睡觉的时候用胶带把它封上. 她的眼睛也不会以同样的速度转动, which made it impossible to watch television or read while she was healing. So she slept a lot 和 visited with friends 和 family.
"We knew there would be at least temporary facial paralysis, 所以这对我来说并不意外,布伦达说. "The hardest part about it is that you don't know how long it will last. Sometimes the facial nerve heals, 和 sometimes it does not, 和 that's a scary thing to live with."
The 听力损失 is a challenge 和 something she is adapting to. She has burned pizza because she couldn't hear the timer 和 slept through alarms when her good ear was against the pillow. Environments with ambient noise make it hard to hear, 而且她已经没有方向感了. 整体, 虽然, Brenda is recovering well 和 has regained "about 90 to 95 percent" control in her facial nerve. She said the remaining weakness is barely noticeable unless she points it out. She also feels lucky to have such great care nearby.
"People from the whole region will travel to see Dr. Gurgel或Dr. Couldwell, 和 they are 15 miles away from me," she said. “我感到很幸福. It's significant to have such amazing medical experts 和 facilities so close. I'm grateful these doctors have dedicated their lives to help patients like me."
Brenda has also been relying on her faith as a source of strength through the entire process, 提醒自己，旅程是大发娱乐成长的地方. "You have a choice when you get diag鼻子d with something like this," she said. “你可以选择让它打败你，让你感到害怕, or you can be confident in the medical care 和 confident in yourself that you can overcome this."