Hi All,

I completed my translab surgery on October 28 w/ Dr. Lee & Dr. Barker @ MGH. The surgery was as much of a success as possible, full tumor removal with full facial function intact. My hearing in my AN ear was already so bad that getting used to the SSD in quieter environments feels pretty comfortable, and I'm slowly bringing back music into my life. My balance is slowly but surely coming back, and I'm going on unassisted, slow walks for an hour at a time already. Still feel pretty unstable, but I know that it'll be sometime before I fully get that stabilization back.

The one thing that has been bothering me though is a strange symptom. Every night, my AN ear will become red and a bit hot to the touch for a few hours and then return to normal. I'm now off steroids and other prescribed meds so they don't seem to be the direct cause. I've had some extensive conversations w/ the team @ MGH about this and they're unsure of the cause, but are not concerned given the lack of other infection symptoms (fever, confusion, etc.) and the fact that it goes away relatively quickly. I have an appointment with my PCP per the MGH team's recommendation next week as I don't live in Boston to cover all my bases on possible causes.

Has anyone else experienced this post surgery? Looking to find any insight into this, thanks

I am considering cataract surgery. I am concerned about increasing the problem in dry eye (the surgery side) as dry eye condition is quite difficult mainly during winter months. Anyone has experience with cataract surgery affecting the dry eye condition?
thank you for any advice

After my 2nd MRI this year, the Acoustic Neuroma grew 20% (it's at nearly 5 mm now) and haver been recommended for the Gamma Knife procedure to take place on December 4th because of the rate of growth.  While there is the small chance my hearing will get worse (it already is anyway) my true hope is the long-term positive effects of no more vertigo and imbalance issues while walking or other activities.

And147159, welcome to the best AN community! I had similar AN size like yours when first diagnosed. I decided to wait and watch for three years. My AN has tripled in size after 3 years and decided to go for GK treatment. So far the treatment has worked really well for me and my AN is now under control, continues to shrink in size. It's okay to wait and watch but please be mindful of the growth rate after few MRI's. Most of us are lucky to find out AN while still small in size as we have plenty of options. In my case, I should have taken action/treatment much earlier although I had enough time to decide what treatment was best for me. I'm really glad I found this community people are really nice and helpful. All the best and keep us updated with your progress.

I read this today and was wondering if medication/ chemo might help this time? Here is the link to show your specialists : https://academic.oup.com/noa/article/6/1/vdae107/7697688