dlbenz's Blog

Ok, it's early.  Very early.  But you can't help but get the feeling this Redskins team might be in the midst of one of those "special" seasons.  How else can you explain what we've witnessed through the first 5 weeks of the season? 

Nobody outside (or even inside) the Beltway saw this team getting off to a 4-1 start.  Heck, I'll admit I had them pegged as collecting 5 wins... for the season.  Now they are 4-1 with all three divisional road games out of the way.  And the next 3 games are cupcakes: St. Losing, Cleveland's Clowns and the pussycats from Motown.  As I write this they are a combined 1-10.  

I've been around this game long enough to know "Any Given Sunday," was more than a movie but it's not only probable, it's likely, that the skins will head into their Monday Nighter with Pittsburgh sitting at 7-1.   Look a little further down the schedule and trips to Seattle, San Francisco and Cincinnati all seem highly favorable.  That puts the Skins at 10 wins with 4 of the other 5 remaining games all at Fed Ex Field.  Let's say they split those 4 home games (Pittsburgh, Philly, Dallas and New York) and somehow lose at Baltimore (not likely), that still puts the Skins at 21-4... and not only into the playoffs but perhaps in the running for home field advantage in the post-season.

And it's not just the schedule that is favorable... it's the team.  They look confident and yet careful all at the same time.  They don't seem to take any chances but yet they still seem to make the big plays.  All the while the guys in the locker room are somehow keeping a level head.  Much of the credit for the "keeping things medium" attitude we are wirtnessing has to go to the vteran leadership on this team.  Guys like Moss, Portis, Sellers, Cooley and Campbell on offense and Fletcher, Carter, Griffin and Smoot on D have done a great job of keeping the attitude right where it needs to be.

But you can't hand out accolades without looking in the direction of Jom Zorn.  Here's a guy who wasn't the first, second or third choice to be the Skins head coach.  He'd never even been a offensive coordinator.  Yet somehow he's gotten this team to believe and he seems to be making all the right calls (even while blatantly learning on the job).  Zorn has the fellas believing that if they all do their jobs as individuals the payoff will be success as a team.  Zero offensive turnovers through 5 games and 4 wins later that formula is bearing an orchard of fruit.  And the season is just getting started. 

Ok, it's really been too long since my last blog.  I finally have a bit of a slow day to sit and fill everyone in on how things are progressing.

First, let me say I am feeling great.  I have been back at work for the last few weeks and feel like I am getting my life back.  The first week back was the toughest.  I didn't expect it to wear me out as much as it did and by the third day I was wiped.  But I have gotten my strength back since then and now feel like I am operating at 90%.

You may have noticed me back on the air in a reporting capacity.  I still have not returned to the anchor desk as my facial nerve swelling (and in turn facial movement) has been painfully slow in its progress.  I do however, feel the improvement has been consistent and feel I am very close to returning to my regular role anchoring sports on the weekends.  In fact, I have reached a point now where most people I talk to don't even notice anything anymore (though I'm never sure if they are just being nice or really can't notice). 

If you know what to look for my issues are still apparent: can't smile all the way and can't blink my left eye (though I can close it).  Still, these are growing smaller and less recognizable every day. 

So I guess that's it for now.  Thanks to everyone who has inquired about my well being.  I really appreciate all the concern and am glad to be back in the thick of things.

Hello again.  For the first time in over a month I am actually sitting at my own desk in my own home writing on my own computer; and while the pedicure and swimming pool (especially the pool) were nice places to be, nothing beats being back home.  It all means I am that much closer to being back to normal and putting this adventure behind me.

 

It was 4 weeks ago today that I underwent the surgery that will forever impact the remainder of my life.  I can't believe it's been 4 weeks!  The time has flown by so quickly.  Needless to say I am so happy to have the worst behind me AND it looks as if everything will have been worth the trouble.

 

Before leaving LA on Friday I returned to the House Institute for my first post-op hearing test and a meeting with Dr. Brackmann.  Both those events couldn't have gone more positively.  The hearing test revealed that my left ear is just 3 decibels below where it was pre-op.  Just 3 decibels!  And the news gets even better.

 

Dr. Brackmann told me he expects my hearing will improve over the next few weeks as the swelling continue to subside.  He says my hearing will be at worst 90% of where it was pre-op and that 100% is not out of the question.  This was amazing news considering I had a 40% chance of losing that hearing completely.

 

In fact, I feel even more fortunate after that meeting Friday because of the reaction from Rita, Dr. Brackmann's assistant.  Rita was the first person I ever spoke with at House and is truly a spectacular lady.  She has been keeping up with this blog (Hi Rita) and when she saw me Friday she walked up to me and said, "Four times! Four times!" 

 

I was confused at first but then she told me she was referencing my blog and the fact that my hearing had gone out 4 times prior to my diagnosis.  She then added that I was so lucky to still have my hearing and that nobody goes through that much hearing loss and still saves it in surgery.  Wow, did that make me feel ecstatic and relieved all at once.

 

As for my facial weakness; I still can't smile but my face is improving.  In fact, Dr. Brackmann was more than optimistic when he examined the movement that has returned.  "I'm 100% positive you will get it all back," he told me.  And there's been plenty of improvement to back that claim.  I can now close my left eye about 90% of the way, I am starting to regain a little movement in the left corner of my mouth, and I can raise and scrunch my eyebrow a noticeable amount. 

 

I am still experiencing dizziness but even that continues to subside.  On that 1 to 10 scale I'd say I'm now at about a 4.  In fact, when I am just hanging out, I feel great, it really only becomes bothersome when I try to move around.  In other words, I'm still a couple weeks away from being ready to man the sidelines at Redskins Training Camp but I am getting close.  (BTW: I’m totally bummed about Phillip Daniels going down, he’s such a great guy BUT I did cover Jason Taylor while in Miami and he also is a great guy, so I'm psyched he is aboard).

 

The only other issue I am experiencing is related to my facial weakness.  The vision in my left eye is blurry quite a bit.  I called the doctor today and he said this is related to the weeks of no blinking and constant need for eye drops.  It’s likely this will itself now that I am (almost) blinking regularly again, but wants me to go see an ophthalmologist just in case.  So stay tuned.

 

So that's pretty much that.  Now that I am home again, and the majority of this is behind me, Sacha and I can finally starting focusing on Baby Benz.  We went to her doctor today and everything looks good.  We can't believe we're going to be parents in just 3 months.  

 

But that's a whole new topic best reserved for another day.   Instead of journeying down that road I'd prefer to address the "Why I chose the House Clinic" topic I've been putting off.  Though it almost seems silly to even need to write that topic anymore considering the results I've had speak for themselves.  Nonetheless I will offer as much insight as I can.

 

When I was diagnosed with my Acoustic Nueroma I was completely freaked out.  (In fact my first posting on the ANA web forum was entitled exactly that).  I knew absolutely nothing about AN's and even less about what I should do about the tumor. 

 

The day I was diagnosed Dr. Fitzgerald told me I should undergo a radiation treatment called a Gamma Knife.  (I will get more into GK in a second) I then asked him if the GK would endanger my hearing and he replied, "Yes, you'll likely suffer some permanent hearing loss, maybe even total loss.  But it will go away gradually, “as if that last sentence was suppose to make losing my hearing ok.  Needless to say, that option didn't sound very appealing.  But what other options existed? 

 

My first phone call was to my brother-in-law, Mark, who is a plastic surgeon in Upstate, NY.  Mark's help throughout this entire process was immense and I feel very lucky to have a doctor in the family.  I sent Mark a copy of my MRI and he confirmed the AN diagnosis and went to work researching the tumor with his friends in the medical community.  A few days later Mark called me and told me everyone he talked to said, if it was them with an AN, they would have it surgically removed and they'd do it at the House Clinic in LA.

 

From there it was off to the internet to do some major research.  Again the ANA website and forums page (www.anausa.org) were invaluable (and thank you to all the people there who were quick to offer their opinions and experiences as I began my journey down this road).  It quickly became apparent that there were three options available to people diagnosed with an AN:

 

1) Watch and Wait

 

2) Radiation Treatment (Gamma Knife or Cyber Knife)

 

3) Surgery

 

-Watch and Wait is exactly what it sounds like.  As long as the tumor is not causing any problems just let it be and keep an eye on it with regular MRIs.  Given my previously noted hearing and vertigo issues I did not view this as a personal option.

 

-Radiation Treatment was a pretty appealing option.  Though I will admit, I'm still not 100% sure I understand the real differences between CK and GK (and that confusion made this option a little less appealing).  Both CK and GK basically involve a pinpointed beam of radiation being aimed at the tumor in an effort to kill it. 

 

The biggest pro of the GK & CK is the non-invasive nature of the procedure.  Both treatments require a simple doctor's office visit.  They zap the tumor and you go home... and hope the tumor was completely killed AND that your hearing and facial nerves were not damaged.  

 

And therein lays the problem I had with radiation.  These treatments haven't been around for but 20 years (less for CK) and early on the radiation levels being used were so high they were all but guaranteed to kill those nerves, along with the tumor.  Over the years, in an effort to avoid killing the nerves, the radiation levels have been dialed back, but now there's a debate on whether the levels being used are enough to completely kill the tumor.  And since there's a limited pool of data there's no way of knowing what the long term success for this treatment is 20 or 30 years down the road.  Not to mention the potential implications of having your brain exposed to radiation.

 

-Finally there's surgery.  The surgery option comes with a number of bad sides, which are pretty obvious considering you are opting to have your skull cut open and let a surgeon operate inside your head.  But surgery has some major upsides as well.

 

Perhaps the best thing about surgery is it's permanent.  Only 2 in 1000 people will ever have their acoustic nueroma come back after having it surgically removed.  

 

Secondly, with surgery, patients know immediately post-op if their hearing has been preserved (and in most cases their facial nerve as well).  Thus, there's no waiting and wondering, am I losing my hearing?

 

Had I been 59 instead of 39, I likely would have chosen radiation.  However, every doctor I talked to (most of whom did both forms of treatment) told me if they were me, it would be surgery all the way.  As much as I would have preferred to not have my skull cracked open, I had to agree.

 

The last thing I would have wanted would have been to get radiation treatment and find out 15 years from now that the tumor was growing again and I needed surgery.  I decided it would be better to have surgery at 39 instead of 54.  

 

Plus, I wanted the thing out.  With radiation there are yearly MRIs to worry over while doctors try to see if the tumor is growing again.  I didn't want to have to worry about this thing down the road.  Getting it out, as tough as the process might have been, seemed like the best option for me.

 

So after much research, consults with doctors and sleepless nights, I knew which treatment option to choose.  But where should I get it done?  Yes, my brother-in-law recommended House, but what about the great hospitals near DC.  Surely Johns Hopkins would have to be an option.  So again there was more to stress over and more research to do.   

 

Again, the ANA website was huge.  I was able to use the site to find a handful of doctors around DC as well as find lots of commentary on the House Clinic.  I ultimately narrowed my choices to a pair of doctors at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore and House.  The big advantage to the doctors locally was that I was able to meet with them in person.  Both seemed excellent and had over 200 surgeries under their belts.

 

But Dr. Brackmann and the people at House have 10x that experience.  And they made a good impression from the start.  Dr. Brackmann reviewed my MRI and gave me a free consult over the phone.  From the very beginning he made me feel as if I was a good candidate to save my hearing.  Additionally, he was unbelievably diligent at getting in touch with me.

 

Just after I initially sent my MRI to House, Sacha and I went to the Bahamas on vacation.  I told Dr. Brackmann’s assistant that I would be unreachable for a week and not to have Dr. Brackmann bother calling until I got back.  Somehow he never got that message.  I know this because he actually called me EVERY day that I was in the Bahamas and left a message.  What Doctor calls someone 6 consecutive days, Saturday included, when they get no response.  Wow!

 

When we finally did talk, Dr. Brackmann emailed me pages upon pages of research the House Clinic has done on its surgeries as well as how they can predict hearing preservation.  Dr. Brackmann put my odds at 60-40.  The guys in Baltimore said 50-50 and offered no such paperwork.

 

In the end, the abilities to, possibly, save a few bucks and be close to home, were no match for the efficiency and experience of House.  My hearing and future were too important not to go where I had the best odds of success.  And I will never regret that decision.  (In fact at the end of my meeting with Dr. Brackmann last Friday I thanked him for his positive impact on my life and took the picture which I’ve uploaded to the site).

 

So that’s pretty much it.  I’m anxious to get back to blogging about actual sports.  I will offer a few more updates on my condition but from here on out my comprehensive writing about my AN on this website is pretty much finished.  I hope the information I’ve shared over the past few weeks will be helpful to someone else down the road.

 

Thanks again to everyone who has contacted me in one way or another.  I truly have been blessed by the outpouring of support.  And boy do I have a lot of emails and phone calls to return.   

 

Hey everyone. I wrote this update last night but was unable to post until today.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone back in DC soon.

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Thursday July 17, 2008

6 PM 

Sorry I haven't written anything in almost a week but I have been focusing on devoting my time to recovering and enjoying the chance of getting to know my in-laws.   My wife's family has been so terrific to me the past few weeks, I can't even begin to thank them enough for taking such good care of me.

 

That fact leaves me more than a little sad right now because Sacha and I just pulled out of her mother's driveway and are beginning our trip to Los Angeles (where we will spend our final night on the west coast before flying back to DC tomorrow).  I am happy to be going home because it means I am that much closer to closing the book on this medical experence but I will definitely miss the nights eating as a big family at either my mother or sister in-law's house (not to mention stealing fresh strawberries daily from the plants in my brother-in-law tony's garden).

 

As for the latest on my recovery, things are pretty much the same as they were in my last blog.  I am still very dizzy when I walk and I still have very noticeable facial weakness on the left side of my face.  There is some good news with both, however.  I am noticing more muscle control in my face returning on a daily basis.  I can now close my left eye three-quarters of the way and can raise my left eyebrow ever so slightly.  The progression here is very slow but has been steady.

 

As for the dizziness, that too seems to be slowly improving.  I no longer need a cane to walk and would say that on a scale of 1 to 10 my worst dizziness is at a 6, compared to an 8 a week ago...   though I still definitely have a ways to go.  Overall though, I feel pretty good about how far I have come considering my surgery was just three weeks ago today and docs said recovery would be 6 to 8 weeks.

 

Two other good notes: I have absolutely no pain and I am now sleeping through the night without taking any sleeping pills!  Both of these are wonderful developments.

 

And perhaps the best news, the hearing in my left ear is terrific!  The water balloon type feeling I was experiencing after surgery has cleared up considerably and I can hear crisply and loudly.

 

Before flying home tomorrow I will find out just how good my hearing really is.  I am scheduled to see Dr Brackmann at the house institute at 10:45 AM and get a full inspection, complete with hearing test.  I am very optimistic this is going to come out well.  I will post an update upon my return to DC.

 

So that's pretty much it for today.  I will post more, including the "why I chose house institute" info early next week.  Have a great weekend everyone.  Both Sacha and I look forward to seeing all you East Coasters soon.

Friday July 11, 2008

 

11 AM

 

Hello again.  Before I get into any updates I would like to thank everyone ho has reached out to Sacha and me the past couple weeks.  All the phone calls, text messages, emails, greeting cards and replies to the blog have been overwhelming.  We feel so fortunate to have so many people reaching out to us.  I personally feel humbled and extremely blessed.  Thank you all so very much.

 

A couple of quick notes that I neglected to mention in my previous entries that people might be curious about:

 

-Doctors say they did get the entire tumor extracted in the surgery.  I will have to have a follow-up MRI one year from now to be certain it is gone, but they are very optimistic.

 

-Following extraction the tumor was sent to pathology to confirm it as being benign.  It was.

 

-The tumor was 1.3cm when extracted.  I was measured at 1.2cm in the MRI, so it grew 1mm in the 3 months between MRI and surgery.

 

As for the latest on my health… I am feeling stronger and stronger as each day goes by.  I continue to try and push myself a bit more each day to build strength and help my brain continue to adjust from the constant state of dizziness.  It is a slow climb but I feel I am making progress.

 

I am sleeping a bit better through the night.  It still takes me a while to fall asleep but today is my last day of full strength steroids, so hopefully that will start to improve as well.  At least now the, “pop,pop,pop,” sounds I was hearing have subsided, so I don’t have that to contend with any longer.

 

Yesterday Sacha and I went to visit the University Of San Diego campus, where she attended school.  We walked around the campus for better than two hours and, though I did rely on my cane quite a bit, I was able to climb a few sets of stairs and enjoy the day. 

 

We then drove around San Diego, through Mission Beach, and La Jolla.  We even stopped and walked on the beach for a bit.  I have never been to most of these places (I was in San Diego in ’98 to cover the Super bowl but never got to the beach) and was glad to be able to take all of it in.  Though, it all added up to a pretty full day.

 

As for the latest on my face… unfortunately there’s not much to report here.  My buddy Tim Ring says I wasn’t that good looking to begin with so not to take it so hard!  I do still feeling some twitching here and there and feel like I am able to move my lips a bit better each day but the progress here is definitely slow.

 

I spoke to a wonderful woman named Ann Lucas yesterday about all this.  Ann lives in Indiana and three years ago she had the exact same surgery (Middle Fossa) for an Acoustic Nueroma under Dr. Brackmann.  Ann and I actually spoke prior to my surgery when I sought her advice after learning of her on the Acoustic Nueroma website (www.anausa.org).  Her tumor was similar in size to mine and she was kind enough to speak with me about her experience at House and her outcome with the surgery. 

 

Our initial conversation was very helpful in making me confident I was making a good decision coming to LA.  Our conversation yesterday was equally beneficial as she talked with me about her post-op complications.  Exactly like me, her hearing was saved in surgery and she initially had full facial movement following the operation.  And, like me, she starting losing that movement a few days afterwards. 

 

Ann said she started getting her movement back very slowly and with twitching at first… similar to what I seem to be experiencing.  Ann said it was about 4-5 weeks before she really had most of it back, and seeing as how I am now only 15 days post-op that I should not be concerned.  Again, this all just reconfirms what the doctors told me but there’s something reassuring about hearing from the voice of experience.

 

So that’s pretty much the latest.  I did go to get a haircut yesterday and I am posting the pics online.  I am also posting additional photos online at: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AYt2zhu4cNmLo
A.  I decided to post these here because for some reason I can’t add any captions to the Fox 5 photos, so check them out there if you want.

 

With all that out of the way I am going to dive into more background about this tumor and how I figured out I had it.

 

As I have alluded to an Acoustic Nueroma is a benign tumor which begins as a small growth extending from the vestibular (balance) nerves in the auditory canal.  (I have included an MRI scan of my tumor with the photos so you can see what it looks like). 

 

As the tumor grows it fills the space in the auditory canal and can become intertwined with both the acoustic and facial nerves, which also occupy this very small space.  If the tumor does become wrapped up with these nerves hearing preservation and facial muscle retention become more and more difficult to save. 

 

Additionally the tumor, in most cases, will also begin growing away from the auditory canal and start extending its way towards the brain stem.  Long term, if left untreated, this tumor can result in even further complications, including death.

 

The good news, if there is good news, with these tumors is they grow very, very slowly… usually not more than a couple millimeters per year.  This allows patients who do have these tumors to make informed decisions on the best way to treat the tumor, without feeling a rush to make a hasty decision. 

 

The other good news is that Acoustic Nueromas are pretty rare.  The doctor who diagnosed me told me that autopsies indicate 1 in 6000 people have Acoustic Nueromas but of those, only 1 in 300 become problematic.  That’s 1 problematic AN in every 180,000 people.  The ANA puts the numbers slightly higher at 2 in 100,000, but in any case you can see this is not a very common issue.

 

Of course the downside to the rarity of these tumors is that finding the right treatment is a bit more difficult than with many other medical issues.  As I will get to when I discuss why I chose the House Institute, most hospitals still consider Acoustic Nueroma treatment more of a specialty than a routine procedure.  Again, thankfully that slow growth rate affords patients like me time to make well-informed decisions after proper research.

 

BTW: there is no known cause of Acoustic Nueromas.  Could it be cell phone usage? Could it be the time I tumbled down the basement stairs as a toddler?  Could it be all those shots of tequila on spring break?  It could be any or none of those, no one knows why these tumors occur. 

 

So, if you’ve been wondering if you too could have an Acoustic Nueroma, the odds are good that you do not.  Nonetheless, I want to share with everyone the symptoms I experienced which led me to (after a number of years) finally discover my tumor.

 

The first sign I ever had an issue arose in the spring of 2004 when I was still living in Indianapolis.  After a late night at the bars I awoke the next day to discover I had lost about 75% of the hearing in my left ear overnight.  I was pretty distraught and very confused.  I figured I had just drunk too much the night before and that it would come back on its own.  Still, it was very scary and strange to suddenly be near deaf in my left ear.

 

When the hearing had still not returned the next day I scheduled an appointment with my general practitioner, who got me in the same day.  That doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me other than the hearing loss.  Ironically, he informed me he had, however, just attended a conference in which sudden hearing loss such as mine had been discussed and that there was some sort of new virus going around which attacked a person’s hearing nerve and manifested sudden hearing loss such as mine.

 

If this virus were not attacked within 72 hours of the onset of the hearing loss, it would be permanent.  I was happy that I had scheduled my appointment so quickly.  The Indy doc set me on a predisone taper prescription and I began taking the pills right away.  Within 3 days my hearing returned!  I was so relieved, and felt very fortunate to have my hearing back.  Little did I know my problems were just beginning.

 

It was nearly another year before I had any further issues.  By the summer of 2005 I was living in Denver and everything seemed to be going great in my life when out of the blue the events from the previous year unexpectedly returned.  Only with a bit of a twist.  This time I was wide-awake when the hearing in my left ear shut down. 

 

I was sitting in my apartment one morning, again after a night out at the bars, when I heard a loud, high pitched ringing in my ear.  The ringing continued for a few hours and as it wore on the hearing in the ear diminished markedly.  By the afternoon I had again lost 75-80% of the hearing in my left ear. 

 

I immediately thought back to what had happened in Indy and thought, “How could I have this virus again?”  I had yet to establish a doctor in Denver at that point, so I headed to the hospital and sought treatment at the emergency room. 

 

Much like the doc in Indy, the doctor who treated me at the hospital could not find anything wrong with me, aside from the hearing loss.  I told him about the viral diagnosis I’d received in Indy and he said he had never heard of any such thing.  Still, he said he was happy to write me a prescription for another predisone taper if I thought that was what I wanted.  I agreed and went on my way.

 

For some reason I was a little slow to fill the prescription this time around.  I don’t recall the exact details surrounding this but I do remember that by the time I filled the prescription my hearing had already begun returning.  I’d guess the hearing loss lasted no more than 48 hours that second time around.

 

By now I was feeling pretty confused about just what was going on.  But at 36 years old, and in otherwise good shape, I pretty much wrote the events off and went on with my life.  I’ve never been very good about admitting when I am sick and always believe I can just power through… that’s not always good.

 

Thus when I first began feeling dizzy a few months later I never imagined the circumstances could be related.  It was Sept. 2005 and I was hosting the University of Colorado Football show, “The Buffalo Stampede,” with then CU Head Coach Gary Barnett.  I woke up one Wednesday morning and was suppose to drive from Denver to Boulder to meet coach Barnett to tape the show. 

 

When I got up out of bed my head was spinning.  I was so dizzy I nearly fell down on the floor.  I had not been out the night before, so this really was strange.  I didn’t feel sick in any other way so I was confused as to what was wrong with me.  It took me a long struggle to get myself into the shower and up and out of my apartment that morning.  I probably should not have been driving but I couldn’t skip this shoot.  Somehow, very slowly, I managed the drive to Boulder without getting into an accident. 

 

When I arrived for the taping, 30 minutes late, I apologized to the crew and Coach Barnett and told them I was feeling ill.  Nonetheless we powered through the taping in only slightly more time than normal.  Needless to say I don’t remember much about that episode or how I even managed to talk about football while I was in a daze the entire show.  Thankfully I did get through it.

 

After the show I drove back home and went back to bed.  After a long nap I awoke to still being dizzy.  By this point in my Denver stay I had befriended a local Doctor named Todd.  I called Todd and told him what was going on and he suggested I likely had some sort of sinus infection.  He wrote me a prescription for a nasal spray and some pills to help the dizziness.  I filled both prescriptions, spent the next couple days on the couch and by the following Monday was feeling pretty much back to normal.                                 

 

Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of the dizziness.  Looking back on it now, I don’t think the dizziness ever really went totally away, I think I just became more used to it and more tolerant of it… but it was always there in one way or another.

 

I met my wife in May 2005 and remember the first time her mother came to Denver in October of 2005.  The three of us went to dinner together and in the middle of dinner I announced I needed to go home because the room was spinning.  Sacha was shocked because I had not really ever complained of being dizzy at any point prior to this.  I felt like a jerk because this was not the impression I’d hoped to make on my girlfriend’s mom. 

 

Then again, ironically, in the summer of 2006 Sacha and I were visiting her mom in Santa Fe, NM and a similar experience occurred while at dinner. 

 

What’s weird though, is that aside from those couple of dinners and the experience with the CU show, the dizziness never really seemed to bother me or even be noticeable on a regular basis.  I really can’t think of any specific “dizzy events” outside of that trio which occurred prior to the spring of 2007. 

 

Then in the spring of 2007 things started to get weird.  Sacha and I were scheduled to get married April 20, 2007 in Key West, FL.  About a month or so before the wedding I started noticing that I was experiencing “lightheadedness” on a nearly daily basis.  I would compare my feeling more to the equivalent of being tipsy than a room spinning type of thing. 

 

At that time I was working out pretty hardcore at the gym and on a fairly strict diet as I was trying to get into great shape for the wedding.  As the lightheadedness was more of an annoyance than an obstacle in my daily function, I just wrote it off as being a side effect of stress over the wedding and working out too hard.

 

Still, when I fainted in Church that Good Friday I knew I could ignore what was happening no longer.  (Very embarrassing, I needed to be helped out of the Church in the middle of the reading of “the Passion of Christ”… not a shining moment).  I scheduled an appointment with my new general practitioner who didn’t find anything wrong with me but suggested I take it easy.  She wanted to see me again when I returned from my wedding, if I wasn’t feeling better.

 

Then came the wedding and the Honeymoon, and I felt terrific.  No dizziness at all.  I hadn’t felt so good in years.  Of course, getting pampered for 10 days in the West Indies with a new beautiful wife can alleviate even the worst ailments.  

 

The good feeling was short-lived.  When I returned from the Honeymoon it wasn’t long before the lightheadedness returned.  Again, the feeling was much more like being a small bit tipsy and was not anything that affected my ability to work, drive, talk, walk or do anything in my normal life.  But it was there… everyday.

 

I found the dizziness usually would begin in mid to late afternoon and stay with me the remainder of the day.  When I went to sleep it would go away and in the morning I’d usually feel great, until mid afternoon when it would begin all over again.

 

By late summer I’d scheduled another appointment with my doctor in Denver who suggested there could be some sort of blockage in my sinuses and that I go to physical therapy to try and alleviate the issue.  I agreed and underwent two weeks of unique exercises but they ultimately did nothing to help.

 

Then last Sept. I experienced yet another hearing outage.  This one was the same as the second.  There was a ringing in my ear and within a few hours the hearing was gone.  Much like that second hearing outage, this one also returned on its own, only this time it took closer to 96 hours.

 

During that 96-hour span I scheduled an appointment with an otolygist in Denver named Dr. Cass.  Dr. Cass ruled out this being a viral thing and suspected I may have Meniere’s disease.  He decided I should have a CAT scan to see what was going on inside my ear.  He wrote me a predisone taper, just in case, but I never took the pills. 

 

The CAT scan came back negative for anything unusual, which left only more questions than answers.    In retrospect, I was an idiot not to tie all my problems together and be more aggressive in diagnosing my troubles right then and there, but I had other tings on my mind… chief amongst them, the fact that I was not working.  The sports talk radio show I had been hosting ended shortly after my wedding and getting a new job was the most important focus in my life.  

 

Thankfully, it was about that time that talks began progressing with Fox 5 in DC.  Since the dizziness was nothing more than an annoyance, and the CAT scan was negative, I opted to pretty much put all that on the back burner and focus on the great career opportunity being presented by WTTG. 

 

Once I decided to accept my position at Fox, there were so many more important issues (I thought) than my health.  I needed to get my house sold.  My wife had a business to sell.  I needed to pack, find a new place to live and get prepared for a new job.  My feeling tipsy would have to wait.

 

And for the most part, it did.  While moving to DC did nothing to alleviate my lightheadedness, the problem never stopped me from being able to function at work.  Yes, it was still there on a daily basis, and, did seem to be getting a bit worse.  Still, I powered through each and everyday and told no one about the times I needed to step outside the office to clear my head or walked into the studio hoping to just get through the next 3 minutes of television without messing up.

 

I think I pulled it all of fairly well.  Even on the rare days when I was feeling not so good, no one seemed to notice.     

 

Then it all came tumbling down on a very important day in Redskins History.  The day the team introduced Jim Zorn as its new head coach is a day I will never forget… and it has nothing to do with Jim Zorn.  In the middle of the Zorn press conference the all too familiar loud, high pitched ringing in my ear began.  By the time the press conference was over I was again nearly deaf in my left ear. 

 

This couldn’t be happening again!  Needless to say it was tough for me to focus on work the rest of that day.  After the presser was over I returned to the station, put together a story for that night’s Sports Extra and bolted out of the office without much explanation. 

 

I sensed Dave Feldman was a bit agitated with me at the way I left work so suddenly on such an important day, and he was right to feel that way.  I felt terrible leaving the office but was so freaked out I just needed to go home. 

 

For the first time I knew there had to be something seriously wrong with me.  I could no longer make excuses for why things were happening.  Most people are not battling vertigo, no matter how mild, on a daily basis.  And most people do not suddenly lose the hearing one of their ears 4 times in 4 years… even if that hearing does come back.

 

This time the hearing loss was much slower to return.  I remember the following Wednesday was the day of the Roger Clemens steroid hearing on Capitol Hill and I was in attendance.  I was in the back of the room trying to follow the testimony while being deaf in one ear.  Somehow I managed to follow along, put together 2 packages for the 5 and 6 o’clock news and go live from the Hill without anyone catching on that I was dealing with some major concerns. 

 

While at the Clemens hearing I was able to (after 2 days of trying) finally get Dr. Cass on the phone back in Denver.  I updated him on my condition and asked him for a referral in the DC area.  He referred me to Dr. Dennis Fitzgerald at Washington Hospital. 

 

By the time I met with Dr. Fitzgerald the following week my hearing had returned but I was ready to get to the bottom of this issue.  Dr. Fitzgerald scheduled a full battery of testing… everything from hearing to sound waves to balance.  And I passed them all with flying colors.  That was when he finally said, “Let’s get an MRI.”

 

I had the MRI on March 10th.  The following Friday, St. Patrick’s Day, I met with Dr. Fitzgerald expecting he was going to tell me I would need more testing, maybe for allergies or something, but he did not.  Instead he alerted me to the discovery of the Acoustic Tumor.  He said he had sent over 200 patients in for MRI’s the past few years and that I was the first to come back with a positive one.  What luck!

 

From there we discussed options available for treatment of this acoustic nueroma and the fact that I had plenty of time to make a decision as these grow so very slowly. 

 

And that was that.  I did get a copy of my MRI and sent it to my brother-in-law (who is a surgeon) to have him independently verify the diagnosis.  After that I went into research mode to determine how I wanted to treat this issue. 

 

I will get into why I chose both surgery and the House Institute next week.  That’s plenty enough for today.

 

If you actually read all this, thanks for the time.  I hope this information might be helpful to someone out there who might be suffering from similar issues. 

 

BTW: One last note, as you can see from the pics, I am eating very well.  I am afraid by the time I get back to DC I’ll be up 20 pounds!  I cannot workout6 or lift anything more than 10 pounds for 4 weeks post-op and I’m only half way there. 

 

Take care and have a great weekend.         

Tuesday July 8, 2008

 

4 PM

 

Today I am writing from the deck of the pool at the Lake San Marcos Resort and Country Club.  I find it a bit humorous because here I am recovering from major surgery and I am getting pedicures and sitting poolside.  Don’t get too jealous though because I can’t go swimming.  Not only am I still too dizzy for that to be a good idea, but I’m not allowed in any standing water until Friday because my cuts are still healing and sensitive.

 

I do have some good news today.  I am beginning to see very small indications that my facial nerve is coming back to life.  I can contract a very small set of muscles in my left cheek under my eye.  It’s nothing significant and if you weren’t staring exactly at the right spot you’d miss it, but it is a sign of progress.  Also, I occasionally feel some twitching going on in my cheek.  I feel very optimistic that all will be well again down the road (not that I was doubting the doctors but it sure is a relief to actually see things progressing). 

 

Other than that… nothing new to report.  I will keep you posted.

 

I will now continue where I left off last night with details on my surgery and experience at the House Institute / St. Vincent’s.

 

Thursday morning (6/26) we arrived at House at 8AM to meet with Dr. Brackmann and finalize the plan for my surgery.  As my neurosurgeon, Dr, Schwartz, had indicated the night before, Dr. Brackmann confirmed that I had a positive result in the sound wave test that he would use to determine whether or not it was worth trying to save my hearing.  He agreed with Dr. Schwartz that we should use the “Middle Fossa” approach to surgery in an attempt to save my hearing.

 

This was a huge relief for me.  Even if there was a 40% chance I’d lose my hearing anyway, I don’t think I could have accepted not at least trying to save it.  I don’t think I need to explain to anyone why this was so important, you can all relate, but I will add that it took on a bit of extra importance in my mind because of my profession. 

 

Without a doubt my favorite thing to do in sportscasting is play-by-play work .  I’ve been fortunate enough to do a number of college basketball, arena football and even some Major League Baseball games over the years and that is something I definitely want to continue.  Only one problem, when doing play-by-play you have to wear a headset in which the producer/director are talks to you in one ear, while you hear your broadcast partner in the other.  I knew if I lost my hearing in one ear my days of doing play by play would probably be over.   

 

So, I was thrilled to at least be getting a shot.  

 

With the plan set, Dr. Brackmann went into details on what would happen.  He explained that a 2-inch by 2-inch hole would be cut in my skull to expose the Auditory Canal and the tumor.  A monitoring device would be added my facial nerve to insure it was functioning properly throughout.  The tumor, along with the vestibular (balance nerves) in my head would be removed, and, if possible, the auditory nerve would be preserved.

 

Dr. Brackmann also warned me that I was likely to feel very, very, very dizzy after this operation.  In my testing the day before, I displayed excellent balance, which led him to believe that my tumor was growing on the inferior vestibular nerve as opposed to the superior.  This is the opposite of most patients.  The good news was that because mine was on the inferior I had not yet had experienced the severe balance issues with which most of his other patients were saddled.  The bad news was that his other patients usually came out of surgery a lot less dizzy because the problem had been removed; I would come out much more dizzy because my brain would “freak out” over those nerves now being gone.

 

After the removal of the nerves and tumor, the skull piece would be set back in place and secured with a piece of titanium, some belly fat would be put in to help seal the hole, and I’d be sowed up and out of surgery.  The whole process would take between 4-5 hours. 

 

With the plan set it was time to walk across the street and check in at the hospital.  Before being admitted I was taken to an office where I completed some paperwork giving my wife power of attorney and indicating my wishes should things go really wrong (organ donation, ventilator, etc).  If I hadn’t been scared yet, I was now. 

 

Soon I was escorted back into a curtained off area in which I was told to undress and put on the standard backless hospital robe.  I also was given some full leg length stockings, which are important to help circulation and avoid blood clots. 

 

My wife sat with me and we prayed a little more together while we waited for the doctors to come get me.  It didn’t seem to take very long before I was being wheeled up to the 6th floor where the surgery was to take place. 

 

After getting off the elevator on 6, the nurse, Nelson, told my wife that this was where she would have to say goodbye.  We were both a bit surprised that our time to part came so suddenly.  I thought she would have been able to at least stay with me while they shaved my head and put in the IV, etc.  This was not the case.  Due to the floor being too crowded they told here she wouldn’t be able to go past the doors.

 

I told her it was ok and that I would be fine.  In some ways, I think the sudden parting was better because neither of us really had time to get emotional.  I had told her the night before that I was not going to cry when we did part and to please not be offended.  I felt that nothing positive would come from crying and, that with her being pregnant, the last thing she needed was to see me crying while she walked away. 

 

As difficult as that was, I managed to hold true to my word.  I told her not to cry and not to be sad, and that everything was going to be great.  We kissed goodbye and she got back into the elevator and headed back downstairs.

 

(I should note here that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were already enroute from San Marcos at this point and would join my wife at the hospital very shortly after we parted, so she was not forced to sit and worry all by herself all day).

 

After saying farewell to Sacha I was met by a male nurse name Gerrard who took me into a room to prep me for surgery.  He was from Ireland and had a very thick Irish accent.  I felt that this was a good sign as Sacha is Irish and, well, I guess I was looking for good signs wherever I could find them.

 

Gerrard explained that I was his assignment for the day.  He would be with me throughout the surgery, and afterwards in the ICU, monitoring me non-stop.  He was a very enjoyable fellow and we had a pretty good conversation.  He assured me he had seen hundreds of these surgeries and that I was in great hands.  He was certain my surgery was going to be a success.

 

Gerrard then broke out the electric razor and started to shave the side of my head.  With all my hair, this took a while.  He joked for me to make certain he was shaving the correct side because the docs had opened the wrong side before (I’m pretty certain he was kidding).

 

While getting my haircut, the anesthesiologist, Dr. Parks arrived.  He too was very friendly and reassuring.  He got my IV started and quizzed me about my surgical history.  He discussed how he would put me under and once asleep he would add a second IV line in my right arm, insert a catheter and insert a breathing tube.  The breathing tube would be removed as soon as I was awake after surgery but I probably wouldn’t remember any of that, he said.  (For the record, I didn’t). 

 

Dr. Parks then told me he was going to administer some sort of tranquilizer through my IV.  He said it would make me nice and relaxed.  He wasn’t kidding.  The tranquilizer hit me within just a few seconds and I was feeling good. 

 

Then Nelson returned and said it was time for me to go into the OR.  As I was wheeled in I had could have glanced around the room to make a quick mental note of my surroundings.  I opted not to.  I’m not big on blood and guts so I just focused instead on the giant plasma screen on the wall and inquired as to whether my surgery would be recorded.  I was told no, but that it could have been had I made the request earlier.  I regretted not having done so. 

 

Less than a minute after arriving in the OR, Dr. Parks said he was going to add the anesthesia to my IV.  I asked how long it would take before I was out.  I wasn’t awake long enough to ever hear an answer to that question…

 

I don’t remember a whole lot about when I first awoke from the surgery.  I remember the room being very blue in color and my wife being there talking to me.  She told me I was through and that everything went great.  She told me the doctors said they were able to save my hearing and that they were very optimistic about my surgery. 

 

Sacha tells me I had virtually no reaction to any of this news.  I was very much out of it still.  I remember being extremely thirsty.  I asked the nurses for water and they gave me some crushed ice. 

 

I vaguely remember Dr. Stefan, the internist in charge of all the medications I was to be administered (I met with him the day before as well), stopping by.  He told me to move my eyebrows, smile, etc.  I passed all his tests with flying colors.

 

I went into surgery at a little after 12:30 PM and was in the ICU around 5.  The whole first night in ICU is pretty much a blur.  I do remember Dr. Brackmann and Schwartz both stopping by and reiterating that everything was great.  I remember Gerrard and other nurses constantly taking my temperature and having me follow a light with my eyes, etc.  And I remember being so thirsty… and every time I asked for water all I got was crushed ice!

 

My other lasting memory of ICU is the dizziness.  Wow!  I felt like I just got off a roller coaster every time I opened my eyes.  I vomited at least 4 times that I can remember… some messier than others (I’ll spare you the details but lets just say the nurses weren’t real happy with me on at least 2 occasions). 

 

One thing I was not in the ICU was in a lot of pain.  The docs and nurses constantly asked me if I was in pain and if I said yes they gave me a shot in the IV (morphine, I’m guessing).  This shot would instantly make me feel better, but also very sleepy. 

 

While in ICU my wife was the only guest allowed to see me.  She was allowed in only for 10 minutes at a time.  That was tougher on her than me because I was so out of it I barely knew what was going on. 

 

That first night went by very quickly.  The following morning I remember getting visited again by Dr’s Stefan, Brackmann and Schwartz.  All of them were still very optimistic about my status.  Dr. Lin also stopped by and changed the bandages on my head and told me they would not need to be changed again until Sunday.  My wife, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were all also allowed to stop by in the AM, though our visit was pretty short. 

 

I remained in the ICU until late Friday afternoon when I was moved to a private room on the general wing.  The room was very nice, with a TV and a phone, not that I was in the mindset to use either.  From the window of my room I was told the “Hollywood” sign was visible.  I tried to look out at it but was so dizzy I couldn’t see it. 

 

Being out of ICU allowed Sacha to spend more time by my side but she mostly just read while sitting with me because every time she showed up in my room I would tell her I was tired and needed to go to sleep.  We figure I probably averaged 20 hours of sleep per day the first three days post-op. 

 

Fortunately, my friend Tim, who lives in LA, came by on Saturday and Sunday and helped keep Sacha company.  Also, another friend (ironically also named Tim) showed up on Saturday as well.  The second Tim flew in from Denver to see me.  I was pretty shocked to see him.  I’m just sorry I pulled the “I need to sleep now,” card with him as well.  I think he understood. 

 

My time in the private room was pretty uneventful.  I will say the nurse who worked the overnight shift on Friday and Saturday night was not my favorite… and she worked a 12-hour shift both nights!  She was the only staff member I encountered who was not overly friendly.  And every time I started feeling pain and asked for something she would say, “It’s been 3 days, you should be starting to feel better,” like I was making up the way I felt. 

 

This same nurse also wanted to re-insert my catheter just 6 hours after it had been removed.  She was complaining that I hadn’t begun the appropriate natural processes (I’m guessing you can figure what I mean) and that she would need to put this back in.  I told her it had only been out for 6 hours and she said it had been much longer.  I was sure it had not been.  Thankfully, I was able to hold her off and Mother Nature swooped in just in time to avoid any further controversy. 

 

The other bad part of the general hospital stay was the food.  Uggh!  Leftovers at the soup kitchen couldn’t be this bad.  Even the salad tasted like plastic.  I don’t remember having much of an appetite at this time anyway, but what little I did want food quickly vanished whenever I actually tried to eat it.

 

Saturday afternoon was the first time I got up out of my bed.  Wow, was I dizzy.  I was given a walker and my wife helped me make a lap around the 6th floor of the hospital.  I felt like I was in the middle of a snow globe that someone had shaken rapidly.  Everything was spinning around me.  We made it back to the room and I went back to sleep.

 

Sunday morning (three days post-op) was the first morning I really started to feel like I was turning the corner.  Dr. Stather (who was filling in for Dr. Stefan over the weekend) stopped by.  He removed my bandages and said I wouldn’t need them any more.  After examining me he said he was very impressed by my recovery and that he was thinking I could be released to the Seton Hall Guest Center later that day.

 

I was shocked to hear this.  I knew I was feeling better, but not sure I was feeling good enough to check out of the hospital.  I was still really, really dizzy.  Being the ambitious type, I did like the idea of taking charge but then I remembered what my brother in-law, who is a plastic surgeon, told me.  He said to listen first and foremost to Dr. Brackmann.  That other people in hospitals always try to get involved and that that’s not always good.  I had gone to LA to have Dr. Brackmann run the show, so let him do that.  Since Dr. Brackmann wasn’t going to be in to see me until Monday I told Dr. Stather I preferred to wait until that time to make a decision on whether I was ready to go. 

 

I spent the rest of Sunday glad I made that decision.  I was able to take my time building confidence.  With Sacha’s help, I took more walks around the 6th floor, sometimes multiple laps at once.  I was also able to stop by some other rooms and visit with other patients who had similar surgeries and compare notes. 

 

Also on Sunday, a Catholic priest stopped by to pray with me and offer Holy Communion.  I was very glad to have had him stop by.  He reminded me I could watch mass on the TV if I wanted, though I ended up being asleep when mass was held.

 

Sunday night was the first night I didn’t really sleep.  I had been sleeping so much during the days I just couldn’t sleep at night.  I tried my best but nothing.  Even sleeping pills were no help.

 

Thus, I was wide-awake when the rounds of doctors began showing up at 6:30AM on Monday.  Dr. Brackmann was the first one in and he told me, “We’re going to let you leave today, David.”  He was very pleased with the way everything was going and agreed it was time for me to move over to the “dorms” next door at Seton.  He told me to schedule an appointment to see him Thursday so he could remove my stitches and re-examine me.

 

Dr. Stefan stopped by a few hours later and wrote me a number of prescriptions.  He too wanted to see me on Thursday. 

 

And that was that.  By noon I was loaded up into a wheelchair (I was not allowed to try and walk to Seton even though it was probably only 200 yards away) and was on my way to the dorms. 

 

I’ve been calling the Seton Guest Center a dorm but really it’s more like a 2.5-star hotel.  A nice comfortable room with a queen size bed, a TV, a small refrigerator, a couch and coffee table, and a bathroom.  Down the hall was a kitchen area with a full size fridge, microwave and tables.  There were also computers with Internet access in that room.

 

Next to the kitchen area was a laundry room available for free usage by the guests.  All in all, not too shabby for $55 a night.

 

As I alluded to earlier, Sacha and I spent a lot of time chatting with other visitors at Seton while I was recovering.  Everyone was so nice.  We were truly blessed to encounter all the people we did.  If anyone is considering a procedure at the House Institute I highly recommend staying at Seton.  It was a home run in every imaginable way (except maybe that the TV did not have a remote control, but I digress). 

 

Sacha and I spent 4 nights at Seton together before heading down here to the San Diego area.  While I never ended up needing to go back to the hospital it was sure nice to know I was so close.     

 

There’s not really much more to add about the time at Seton.  It was during our stay there that my facial weakness began to arise (Wednesday).  I didn’t bother contacting the doctors about it on that day because I knew I was meeting with them on Thursday.

 

By the time I met with the docs on Thursday my eye was really bothering me.  I had been unable to blink or close it for nearly 24 hours.  To make matters worse, the day before, Sacha and I had gone to the beach for a walk, and all the wind had dried my eye out even more.  My left eye was not happy.

 

Dr. Brackmann gave me that clear eye patch I’m wearing in the pictures on my blog and told me to wear it when I was outside.  He then removed my stitches.  I thought that process was really going to hurt, but it wasn’t so bad.  I tried to ignore what was going on while he was extracting them.  It went by pretty quickly.

 

Sacha and I then went to visit Dr. Stefan, got more prescriptions to try and help avert this facial weakness, and set up follow up appointments for the 18th. 

 

And that pretty much brings us up to date.

 

By the way, I am no longer at the pool and it is now Wednesday AM (11:00). 

 

This took a while to write so I’m gonna sign off now. 

 

Nothing really new to update on my condition from what I wrote yesterday but thanks again to everyone who continues to check in on my condition.  I will probably take the next 24 hours off from writing so look for my next blog to probably not be posted until Friday.  Hopefully I will have more good news about my face by then.  I will also have haircut pics as I am going to go get my full military buzz later this afternoon.  Take care.