Reanimation surgery for delayed nerve recovery

[Jones1017]

Hi. I had an acoustic neuroma brain tumour removed in October last year leaving me with complete left sided facial paralysis. I’m now 7 months post surgery and seeing some signs of recovery on an EMG but nothing translating into movement in my face yet.just my facial tone has improved.

I’m in consultations about reanimation surgery now - nerve grafts to improve the function of my face and eye surgery to improve closure - and I’m being advised that muscle responsiveness can diminish much earlier than the 18 months that is advised.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone that has either recovered from acquired paralysis after 8 months, or has had reanimation surgery. Thanks - I’m finding this decision to have more surgery very difficult and am trying to better understand it all.

Thanks for any help or sharing of experiences.

A

[Wayne4211]

I had a masseter-to-facial nerve transfer. The result is astonishing to all the surgical team. I have an excellent response and now have a weekly specialist speech pathology which I recommend. The operation is an ordeal though I'm an extremely needle phobia case I would still recommend it.

[Wayne4211]

Oh and I also had eye surgery to lift the lower lid and a gold weight inserted in the upper.

[Jones1017 in reply to Wayne4211]

Thank you so much for your replies. Would you be up for a more involved chat about the procedure? I’m assuming it’s possible to direct message on here?

It’s so encouraging to hear you had great results. The masster yo facial nerve transfer and the eyelid surgeries are exactly what are being proposed.

Thanks so much.

Anya

[Wayne4211 in reply to Jones1017]

Sure. Not a problem. More than happy to answer any questions I'm able to