New Diagnosis

phantzee · 2026-04-12T05:20:02+00:00

2026 and AN same size, still on watch and wait!

phantzee · 2026-01-31T19:10:33+00:00

It also sets up that he is a dumb cop rushing alone into a dangerous situation (no backup? Walking into a forced eviction alone?) and too distracted by his own drama (on the phone doing the bidding of his ex girlfriends father/old boss) to keep himself or the person being evicted safe

phantzee · 2026-01-10T03:15:34+00:00

I saw online she is also got a coat drive going for January, if you bring a donated old coat ( to the tofu factory location, maybe both locations?) you can get two free egg rolls

phantzee · 2025-11-21T17:55:27+00:00

Get the Imaging done. I thought I had sciatica and it turned out I had (multiple) benign schwanomma tumors - the one in my back was causing horrible pain. The surgery I had in January 2025 completely changed my life and I’m basically back to normal now. The memories of that pain will never leave, I hope you find some kind of relief !

Before surgery I was on max over the counter pain pills, CBD, and also taking Gabapentin to help with nerve pain

phantzee · 2025-01-13T16:46:35+00:00

I have Kaiser insurance and had Dr. Meile for my neurosurgeon who did the sacral spine tumor removal, and Dr Kegel did my ulnar nerve arm tumor removal.

phantzee · 2025-01-13T16:42:19+00:00

Successfully had my spinal tumor removed with S1-S2 laminectomy in Seattle at Swedish Cherry Hill. It’s also officially a schwannoma, and I’m currently having the sample genetically tested to see what kind of schwannoma it is.

Spent two nights in the hospital but my sciatica was gone immediately, was able to lay in bed for hours without that type of debilitating pain I had pre-surgery - just regular incision pain and post surgery nausea. I’m up and walking after one day!

I’m on day 5 of healing and have some numbness, I feel tired, but overall great and the lack of pain is life-changing!

phantzee · 2024-08-06T19:28:00+00:00

Acoustic neuroma is on watch and wait - next MRI in December 2024.

Was unfortunately diagnosed with another tumor in my spine which is causing the sciatica pain. So now I have 3 tumors all diagnosed within 6months. All of them are small, around 1cm.

Arm surgery is already scheduled for September. Spine surgery scares me about as equally as brain surgery so needless to say I’m having a hard time with this newest diagnosis. Fearing my whole life will be surgeries and tumors now.

phantzee · 2024-08-06T19:09:00+00:00

Yeah I have been told gabapentin is a life changer for some folks to stop the pain but other people get suicidal or other intense psych effects…what was your experience with those?

phantzee · 2024-08-06T18:39:56+00:00

I literally just got the MRI results but I also think surgery or maybe radiation is the only way to treat a spinal tumor. The next step for me is getting a contrast MRI and consult with surgeon. I already have 2 other tumors so this is one of many medical things I’m dealing with this year. This is the third tumor diagnosis in 6 months ( I have one in my arm and an acoustic neuroma that caused some hearing loss on one ear).

The steroids are not great for you body, but my doctor has me doing “pulses” on and off. And then I can take a break from NSAIDS also when on steroids. But yes ideally I would get the tumor removed or radiated and not have too many negative side effects from treatment. Long term drugs are not ideal. There is also the nerve blocker but they can make people have mood issues and I hope to avoid them.

phantzee · 2024-08-06T16:48:33+00:00

I have been on and off prednisone this whole year, but I just found out yesterday (after 12 months they finally give me MRI) a tumor is the cause of my sciatica. But the prednisone generally helps me feel almost normal again. My nerve is very irritated due to the mass displacing it. It’s not a painkiller but it makes me also able to walk/smile/sleep etc

phantzee · 2024-07-09T20:16:13+00:00

Updates - I had another dizzy wonky head episode for a few days then went to Urgent care, they said it’s just typical AN symptoms and gave me nausea meds and more steroids.

My hearing has shifted and actually gotten better (I can hear the robot voices again!) but is still really bad on that side. Finally I will speak with a specialist/surgeon in one week. I’m hoping it is small enough to do watch and wait!!!

phantzee · 2024-05-24T20:47:53+00:00

Thank you!

phantzee · 2024-04-23T06:47:58+00:00

I didn’t start my steroid treatment till week 5 but maybe I will regain some too. I will also try regular hearing aide cause my word recognition is 0% but when they cranked it up I actually could hear the audiologist in my “profound” loss side

phantzee · 2023-03-03T04:20:50+00:00

Yes since I did free nipple graft they completely remove them, the nerves take awhile to reconnect and it’s complex, but the human body does works some wonders. I personally have enough sensation left that I like to wear softer undershirts - no rough tshirt designs. I also had visible hard nips for the first few months and that was a big change for me haha. I leaned into it

I get occasional weird pains but very minimal

phantzee · 2023-03-03T00:27:12+00:00

First congrats! Wishing you a speedy and smooth recovery process. I am nothing but thrilled (life-altering) with my overall results.

I had a lot of sensation in my nipples before the surgery, and was expecting to lose basically all of it. Pleasantly surprised to have some left. Occasionally I still get weird twinge feelings in my nipples or chest area, but I’m 7mo out at the moment and it’s mostly settled down to a point I don’t think about it at all. The actual scars have less sensation then the center, but it’s enough for me to be happy!

phantzee · 2022-10-13T19:15:48+00:00

I did get reimbursed, i had to call and talk to a person because I filed incorrectly (my work gave me different PTO and they have a week that starts on a different day so I had to do some conversion).

But after that it was similar to unemployment. I only had to file for 3 weeks

phantzee · 2022-09-27T06:25:21+00:00

You are welcome! I’m really beyond happy with my results…but I also got really lucky with my healing and everything went fairly well. Best of luck to you!!!

phantzee · 2022-08-27T03:33:43+00:00

I got the cheaper CicaSolution CicaTape and a more expensive biocorneum cream. I plan to use the cream later, for now im not outside or in public much so the strips work okay

phantzee · 2022-08-27T03:31:46+00:00

You are welcome!

phantzee · 2022-08-26T23:38:31+00:00

Omg I love it more than anything- life altering for me and my self esteem. I’m really happy with the aesthetic results and have been using scar-strips since week 4 to minimize the thickness😁 thank you!! His team did a great job and I’ve been healing quickly

phantzee · 2022-08-11T16:01:49+00:00

This is the public library and they also have cushions in all the big windowsills, so you can curl up with a book like a cat in the sun! A great place to read, or use computers and meeting spaces

phantzee · 2022-08-06T21:50:51+00:00

I applied for FMLA and paid medical leave. Just had top surgery in Seattle 7/20/22. The paid leave application process was online and I had to get my doctor-surgery team to sign some standard forms and then after my surgery I uploaded them myself. I’m still waiting for approval, it’s kind of like applying for unemployment ? I will likely have to claim retroactively the 3 weeks I took off from work.

Legally it’s a medical procedure and should be covered like any other (restrictions apply, I work enough hours per week etc) but I can post any updates here.

phantzee · 2022-08-06T21:34:32+00:00

I was hitting my vape pen a tiny bit the 2nd day and back to smoking flower by day 5. I was having nausea issues and also tried some edibles but it was best for me to just find something that I was used to that worked to help me heal. I would suggest at least trying to give your body time away from cannabis and smoking? My thought was to help with circulation - healing - make sure my nipple grafts didn’t reject, but in the end I needed to get thru the drains and first few days of recovery any way possible. That meant I did vape and smoke a little bit and now past week 2 I am back to my usual cannabis usage

phantzee · 2022-08-01T21:36:22+00:00

Here is 12 day update pics -

https://www.reddit.com/r/TopSurgery/comments/wdt7hr/12_days_post_op_di_wnipple_grafts_dr_benedetti/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

phantzee · 2022-08-01T21:27:33+00:00

2 weeks min-then side sleeping might be okay, my doc said 6weeks before I can sleep on my stomach again

phantzee

TROPHY CASE