I've spent the past few months referencing this site and figured it was time I introduce myself. I'm 37 and have suffered from bilateral acoustic trauma-related tinnitus since my early twenties when I began playing in bands. I quickly adjusted to this relatively mild annoyance, and though I could always hear it, it never caused significance distress.
In December of 2016, my life changed. I awoke one night with sharp pains behind my left eye and a deep ache in my neck. I concluded that I must be experiencing my first migraine. The pain eventually subsided, allowing me to resume sleep. But two days later I encountered the pain again, once more in the middle of the night. I also began to notice other troubling symptoms, including dizziness and pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear. I thought I might have an ear infection, so I scheduled an appointment with an ENT.
The ENT conducted a hearing test, which revealed no hearing loss. He then recommended I get a CT scan immediately, as my symptoms indicated an aneurysm. After three hours of waiting for the results, the ENT gave me the results via a phone call to the patient waiting room. I had a brain tumor.
The next day I had an MRI and a consultation with a neurosurgeon who informed me that the tumor was a benign meningioma about the size of a large egg. It was growing in the tissue of the tentorium, the dura matter separating the two hemispheres of the cerebrum from the cerebellum below. It had grown large enough to displace the brain tissue and cause the symptoms I was experiencing. In his opinion, the tumor was too large to resort to radiation treatment, so he scheduled a craniotomy for five days later.
My skilled surgeon was able to completely resection - or remove - the entire tumor without serious complications. After the eight-hour procedure, I awoke with double vision and partial paralysis of my left hand. The tumor had engulfed the IV cranial nerve which abducts the eyes, and though my surgeon had salvaged the nerve, it was damaged as he scraped it free of tumor. The numbness in my left arm and hand was caused by improper positioning during the lengthy surgery, which restricted blood flow and injured the median nerve. Fortunately, both issues have partially resolved with the passage of time. The double vision passed within a week or so, and my left hand has regained about 60% function. At my four month follow-up in April, the tumor showed no signs of recurrence and my brain had returned to a normal state free of hydrocephalus or indications of stroke. I did suffer from horrible pulsatile tinnitus for a few weeks of recovery, but that too passed. I was ready to resume my life.
In June, about seven months after my surgery, I was sitting on my sofa watching television when a very loud, very high-pitched tone (~15k, I believe) spontaneously activated in my left ear (the same side of my head as the tumor). As I mentioned above, I've had acoustic trauma-related tinnitus for over a decade, but this new tone was qualitatively distinctive and of an intensity beyond anything I had experienced. I immediately bolted to my feet and panicked. I knew at once that this new tone was unlikely to subside - it was too loud to be a passing phenomenon. Sure enough, it has remained constant over the past 10 weeks, never varying in volume.
As many of you can relate, tinnitus now dominates my waking hours, consuming every moment of my mental and emotional life. I was already in a bad state before the onset of this new tinnitus, as I was coping with a devastating divorce and the reduction of my cognitive abilities following brain surgery (I am a writer by profession and value intellectual endeavors above all other pursuits, having spent four years in graduate school). This new source of stress has crippled me, and my hopes for the future are shattered. I persevere, for what other choice do we have? But my quality of life is ruined.
I returned to my ENT in June to re-check my hearing, but there were no discernible changes from my examination in December. I am finally scheduled to see a neurologist tomorrow, but I have no expectation of receiving a diagnosis. I suspect that my VIII cranial nerve is somehow involved, but even if an MRI were to confirm my suspicion nothing could be done about it.
I tell my story in case someone else develops tinnitus following a similar operation. To everyone coping with this condition, you have my condolences and respect. As with so much else in life, we are impotent to change our fate, but we can influence our response to the calamity. To quote Camus: "There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn." May righteous rebellion lend you strength.
In December of 2016, my life changed. I awoke one night with sharp pains behind my left eye and a deep ache in my neck. I concluded that I must be experiencing my first migraine. The pain eventually subsided, allowing me to resume sleep. But two days later I encountered the pain again, once more in the middle of the night. I also began to notice other troubling symptoms, including dizziness and pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear. I thought I might have an ear infection, so I scheduled an appointment with an ENT.
The ENT conducted a hearing test, which revealed no hearing loss. He then recommended I get a CT scan immediately, as my symptoms indicated an aneurysm. After three hours of waiting for the results, the ENT gave me the results via a phone call to the patient waiting room. I had a brain tumor.
The next day I had an MRI and a consultation with a neurosurgeon who informed me that the tumor was a benign meningioma about the size of a large egg. It was growing in the tissue of the tentorium, the dura matter separating the two hemispheres of the cerebrum from the cerebellum below. It had grown large enough to displace the brain tissue and cause the symptoms I was experiencing. In his opinion, the tumor was too large to resort to radiation treatment, so he scheduled a craniotomy for five days later.
My skilled surgeon was able to completely resection - or remove - the entire tumor without serious complications. After the eight-hour procedure, I awoke with double vision and partial paralysis of my left hand. The tumor had engulfed the IV cranial nerve which abducts the eyes, and though my surgeon had salvaged the nerve, it was damaged as he scraped it free of tumor. The numbness in my left arm and hand was caused by improper positioning during the lengthy surgery, which restricted blood flow and injured the median nerve. Fortunately, both issues have partially resolved with the passage of time. The double vision passed within a week or so, and my left hand has regained about 60% function. At my four month follow-up in April, the tumor showed no signs of recurrence and my brain had returned to a normal state free of hydrocephalus or indications of stroke. I did suffer from horrible pulsatile tinnitus for a few weeks of recovery, but that too passed. I was ready to resume my life.
In June, about seven months after my surgery, I was sitting on my sofa watching television when a very loud, very high-pitched tone (~15k, I believe) spontaneously activated in my left ear (the same side of my head as the tumor). As I mentioned above, I've had acoustic trauma-related tinnitus for over a decade, but this new tone was qualitatively distinctive and of an intensity beyond anything I had experienced. I immediately bolted to my feet and panicked. I knew at once that this new tone was unlikely to subside - it was too loud to be a passing phenomenon. Sure enough, it has remained constant over the past 10 weeks, never varying in volume.
As many of you can relate, tinnitus now dominates my waking hours, consuming every moment of my mental and emotional life. I was already in a bad state before the onset of this new tinnitus, as I was coping with a devastating divorce and the reduction of my cognitive abilities following brain surgery (I am a writer by profession and value intellectual endeavors above all other pursuits, having spent four years in graduate school). This new source of stress has crippled me, and my hopes for the future are shattered. I persevere, for what other choice do we have? But my quality of life is ruined.
I returned to my ENT in June to re-check my hearing, but there were no discernible changes from my examination in December. I am finally scheduled to see a neurologist tomorrow, but I have no expectation of receiving a diagnosis. I suspect that my VIII cranial nerve is somehow involved, but even if an MRI were to confirm my suspicion nothing could be done about it.
I tell my story in case someone else develops tinnitus following a similar operation. To everyone coping with this condition, you have my condolences and respect. As with so much else in life, we are impotent to change our fate, but we can influence our response to the calamity. To quote Camus: "There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn." May righteous rebellion lend you strength.
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