My sister had the same type of symptoms. Her hearing was perfect. She had to quit her job as a waitress due to the balance problems that worsened over a six month period. Finally a doctor had the sense to order an MRI which showed 3MM AN. Her balance symptoms were so bad that she had the surgery. That was 10 years ago. She lost her hearing and still has minor balance symptoms which worsen with fatigue. However, she works full time and leads a normal life. Most people have no idea what happened to my sister. They are usually shocked when they find out that she is single sided deaf and more shocked to find out she had an AN, which usually they have never heard of.
90% of ANs manifest as hearing loss, 10% manifest as balance. Please note that my sister's case was an extreme one, and we found that out last year when we went to the ANA Annual Conference and very few doctors had dealt with such a small AN as her, and when we followed up with her doctor, he said it was very rare. We did this followup since I was disagnosed with a 2MM AN last year - my hearing is perfect, my balance is a little off, especially when I am tired. I also have to be sure to stay hydrated.
Again, my sister's case was rare. I'm not saying you will experience what she did. It's been a year since my diagnosis and I have been stable. I will have a followup MRI soon. But I wanted to say - a person can have severe balance symptoms due to AN, to the point of having to have the tumor removed in order to return to a normal life. My sister has told me that if I ever get to that point - I will welcome the surgery. Of course, right now, I am hoping it will just stay as it is and never grow. I feel there is a good chance of that, there have been studies done in Finland or Sweden (can't remember which country) where they have examined the brain of people that have passed away and found many with very small ANs, and they never knew they had an AN. And there is some new developments going on in terms of treatment - I read a couple months ago about some type of cell receptor work going on in Poland that could help those of us with ANs.
Oh, you may want to check into vestibular/balance therapy. That might help in the meantime. Also, just walking helps a lot.
I wish you the very best.
Sincerely,
Gale