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<p class="tumorshead">Alisha's Story</p><p>There was a time in Alisha’s young life when she was angry at her fate and bitter about her life. “I wondered why this had to happen to me,” she said.</p> <p>Today her outlook is one of eagerness and optimism. </p> <p>With the help of Dr. Philip Theodosopoulos of the Mayfield Clinic and Dr. Myles Pensak of University ENT Specialists, she is free of a recurrent brain tumor and looking forward to a healthy, normal life. Drs. Theodosopoulos and Pensak, surgeons at The Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati and University Hospital, removed the tumor – an acoustic neuroma – shortly before the 2006 Christmas holiday. Alisha, accompanied by her mother and two sisters, went home to Overland Park, Kansas, a week later.</p> <p>“This place is so wonderful it’s almost scary,” Alisha said after her surgery at University Hospital. “It’s as though Dr. Theo heard our prayers to God.”</p> <p>Alisha was 13 when she developed chronic headaches. An MRI revealed the acoustic neuroma on the right side of her brain, near the internal auditory canal. An acoustic neuroma is a tumor that grows from the sheath (covering) of nerves that are responsible for hearing and balance. Although an acoustic neuroma is technically “benign,” it can cause serious damage as it grows by exerting increasing pressure on surrounding nerves and the brain.</p> <p>In Alisha’s case, the original tumor was 5 centimeters in diameter -- “a monster,” in the words of her doctor.</p> <p>Alisha’s surgery was fraught with complications. She suffered a brain hemorrhage a few days after the operation and was in the hospital for three months. She recovered slowly, progressing from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane. In addition, her right facial nerve, which controlled muscles on the right side of her face, was damaged during the surgery, and she suffered facial paralysis on that side. Even when she was happy, she could no longer smile completely.</p> <p>Damage to the facial nerve is an infrequent but very real complication of surgery for acoustic neuroma. “The facial nerve can be injured when the surgeon is peeling it away from the tumor,” Dr. Pensak said. “Or it can be damaged by a loss of blood supply.” </p> <p>But an even more ominous reality remained. Alisha’s surgeon was not able to remove the entire tumor, leaving a high risk that it would grow back. </p>
ALISHA'S STORY:
Acoustic Neuroma
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