Hi, Phillies - and welcome. Although I'm sorry you've been diagnosed with an AN, I'm glad you've discovered the ANA discussion forums.
You're now in the midst of one of the most difficult parts of the AN journey. Choosing a treatment. All have inherent risks of some kind. There is no 'magic bullet'. Unfortunately, hearing loss can occur with the Gamma Knife treatment. It can also occur with other radiation approaches and definitely with microsurgery. However, I hasten to add that hearing loss is not necessarily a certain outcome with any AN-related procedure and the level of loss (if any) can - and does - vary with each AN patient. We realize that every newly-diagnosed AN patients seeks the best possible treatment with the best chance of a complication-free outcome. I did. The reality is that this kind of tumor, although benign, is in a difficult place and every procedure has it's risks. The uncertainty can be frustrating but we all have to deal with it. Performing the research needed to arrive a treatment decision/doctor/facility that you're comfortable with, as you've noted, can be arduous and eventually, depressing. It is also unavoidable.
The key point to keep in mind is that everyone is unique and one (or ten) AN cases that ended with complications for the patient are not automatically a template for every AN patient. Many of us had excellent outcomes to AN surgery and/or radiation. I'm just one of them. Like you, immediately following my diagnosis I jumped on the internet and found this website, among others. I was a bit dismayed with the posts relating sometimes painful, debilitating and/or intractable problems some AN patients experienced, post-op or post radiation. I was determined to choose the 'best' doctor I could find and to avoid these sorts of problems. I also prayed a lot about my situation. Long story short: I found an excellent AN neurosurgeon, underwent AN 'debulking' surgery (including severing the tumor's blood supply) and suffered no concomitant problems. 90 days later, as planned, I underwent 26 FSR (radiation) treatments to destroy the remaining tumor's DNA. These were relatively uneventful and successful (the tumor 'died'). Yes, I'm a 'success story' and so are many others who take the time and make the effort to post on these forums. However, these forums are mainly here to advise, inform and most of all, support AN patients. Obviously, those experiencing problems related to AN treatment are going to be well represented and we're glad to help them in whatever way we can. With that caveat, I hope you'll continue to pursue the website and the message boards, not avoid them. Feel free to ask any question you may have. These are active forums and you'll usually receive a reply within a short time. We're here to help. I hope we can help you. Please allow us to try - and thanks for registering and posting.
Jim
