1. Where will the surgery be and who is your doctor?
UC Health Anshutz Pavillion. His practice comes highly recommended and I feel very comfortable with him. There will also be a neurosurgeon involved.
2. Will your hearing come back?
Unfortunately it is too far gone to be recovered. There’s not enough left to try to save, and will make surgery more complicated if they try to, so I will be deaf in that ear. There’s a chance for a Cochlear implant down the road, but we’ll have to see.
3. How long will Ella be gone?
Probably a year. Ella needs long-term treatment for many reasons. since the pandemic, she has been in a constant state of fight or flight, which makes normal life functioning super hard. Things like school feel impossible. It has landed us in the ER at least 20 times because she feels unsafe in her own mind and body (i.e. self harm, suicidal thoughts, etc). From the ER we have been sent to hospitals, but it never addresses the real issues and the stabilization is temporary. She’s desperate for some stability and this place can really help her once she buys into it.
4. How often can you visit her?
As often as we want. Probably every 6 weeks. My surgery will affect that, of course. I won’t be able to fly for a while, but we’ll figure it all out. There are parent seminar weekends every quarter. Once she’s getting better (she’s kind of like a wild mustang right now) she will be able to go on home visits, stay with us in a hotel, see family, etc
5. What about school?
School is ongoing at these places. She’s earning credits when she participates. Not sure what it will all look like when she’s back. Hopefully she’ll just be able to pick up where she left off and start 10th grade. Maybe she’ll re-do 9th? School hasn’t really been “normal” for us since 6th grade. It’s constantly interrupted by hospital stays and treatment centers. School can be a lot of pressure for neurodiverse kids. It just adds to everything else.
6. What will your surgery recovery look like?
I will be in the ICU for a day after surgery. Then I’ll be in the hospital for 3-5 days. They will try to get me up and moving pretty quickly. I’ll most likely be dizzy because the vestibular nerve is involved. There’s also a chance I’ll have weakness of the facial nerve (but we don’t talk about that! 😉)
Once I’m home it will be about a month before I start doing normal stuff like driving, working, etc.
I will be doing PT at a clinic that specializes in dizziness. I’m already feeling slightly dizzy from the tumor and have episodes where I’m wobbly.
Stability 
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