Hi, Amanda ~
Please accept my welcome and empathy for your feelings of shock and angst upon receiving the AN diagnosis. Like you, I managed to get through most of my adult life without needing a doctor except for routine physical exams and such. About a decade ago, when I noticed that my hearing was diminishing in one ear (
my left) I chalked it up to 'aging' (
I was in my late 50's) and told my wife that I was glad it was only going away in one ear, which she thought was odd but couldn't convince me to see a doctor (
"he'll just tell me I'm losing hearing in one ear - and I already know that"). I adjusted to the unilateral hearing loss (
I can be very adaptable) and was fine until late in 2005 when my balance was affected (
I almost tumbled down the stairs of our condo) and my sense of taste diminished to the point that I practically stopped eating and lost an (
unneeded) 30+ pounds. I was also experiencing intermittent 'stabbing' pains on the left side of my head, although they were relatively infrequent so I decided not to mention them to my wife. Well, she finally caught on that something wasn't right (
my failure to eat did it) and made an appointment with our PCP. He sent me for tests to determine if my loss of taste was caused by 'a sinus condition'. One of the tests was an MRI. He called me with the news that the MRI discovered a 'huge' benign tumor (
acoustic neuroma) on my left side and that it had to be removed as soon as possible because it was impacting my brainstem. Long story short: I found a neurosurgeon with decades of experience removing ANs. I underwent 'retro' surgery to 'debulk' the tumor and sever it's blood supply. I'm happy to report that I came out relatively unscathed, as it were. The neurosurgeon teamed with a radiation oncologist to 'map' subsequent (
planned) FSR treatments to stop any future tumor growth. Later MRI scans showed tumor necrosis and the beginnings of shrinkage, so all is well and, now, almost 5 years later, I'm doing great. I'm confident that
you'll get through surgery (
or radiation) just fine, too. Many AN patients do. Some post on these forums.
My son was grown when I underwent my surgery (
he was relatively blasé about the whole thing) and I don't live anywhere near Texas so I regret that I cannot respond to your pertinent questions but I'm confident other parents will. You sound like a good mom and I bet your girls will handle this very well. I know from experience that children often look to the parents for cues in situations that are new and possibly scary for them. If you and your husband remain fairly calm (
no tears) and don't seem to be frightened about this, I suspect that your girls will reflect that attitude. Meanwhile, you can always come to these forums to ask questions or just vent, when necessary. We know what you're going through and we want to help and support you in whatever way we can, so, don't be a stranger!
Jim 
