lparr:
Hi...and welcome to our 'club'.
As others have already stated, you'll need to obtain more information in order to have some of your general questions answered here. For
specific medical information relative to your 'case', you'll need to consult a physician. You - and any neurosurgeon or radiologist - certainly need an MRI in order to determine the exact size of the AN tumor. If it's small enough, non-invasive
radiation treatment may be a valid option for you. If not, you'll need surgery, which requires hospitalization and a longer recovery period but is also quite common and effective in removing AN tumors, as many here can affirm, myself included.
I'm now some 10 weeks post-op AN surgery (
retrosigmoid approach) and practically back to normal, in terms of living my life the way I used to, prior to the symptoms of my Acoustic Neuroma infringing on it and driving me to the doctor, various labs, neurosurgeon consultations, the hospital - and surgery. AN's come in many sizes and both surgery and/or radiation treatments come with some strange side-effects...and occasionally with no side effects at all. It's a very individualized medical problem, as the many messages you'll see on this board, proves.
This site is also an excellent source of information. There are
many useful AN-related sites on the internet. I've visited almost all of them, as I wanted to know as much as possible about what I had as soon as I found out that I had it. That information won't change your diagnosis, but knowledge does give us all a feeling of having some sort of control over our lives and helps us to make informed health-related decisions. You'll may have to be making these kinds of decisions, soon.
Here's some information for you: If your AN tumor is small (under 3cm),: non-invasive radiation 'surgery'
may be an option. The MRI scan will answer this question. Surgery is only for larger tumors, as a neurosurgeon will tell you. AN surgical recovery is generally close to 2 months, sometimes more - and sometrmes less. Post-op, regaining your balance is always a challenge, but possible. I did....well, almost. Whatever percentage of hearing you lose is usually gone forever - but not always - and there are sophisticated hearing aid devices that some folks use to compensate nicely. Strenuous physical activity may be off-limits for some time - but not permanently. Once you consult with a neurosurgeon (who will - very likely -request an MRI before he sees you) he will set a surgery date, if that is what is required. If the tumor is small enough to be removable via radiation, he will probably refer you to a radiolgy oncologist. If the tumor is
very small, he may even suggest a
'watch-and-wait' scenario, meaning that you basically do nothing and have bi-annual MRI scans to 'watch' the AN and see if it grows. Many grow very slowly, stopping for years while occasionally they grow at a near-exponential rate. Every AN tumor is different in some way. There simply is no 'generic' Acoustic Neuroma.
To amplify what others have already suggested: obtain as much valid information as possible prior to your consultation and ask as many questions as you feel you need to in order to become comfortable with the doctor and whatever course you decide to take. From my (successful) experience, I suggest you attempt to select a neurosurgeon with much AN removal experience. Some neurosurgeons are better versed in spinal surgery than brain surgery. I found one that did both -
but - had 30 years of AN removal experience and was probably the best in my state, according to the hospital nurses and other doctors I spoke to. In any case, always remember that AN surgery (if you need to go that route) is serious - but the tumor is almost always benign (they'll do a biopsy post-op) and, best of all, it's
operable. While AN's (as we call them) can be a minefield, most AN patients usually regain their health over time and live productive lives. I'm on my way to being one of them, and Laura, I have 30 years on you.
Although I very much want to put this experience behind me, I still post here occasionally to encourage others and show that an AN (mine was relatively
huge) is not 'the end of the world'. You can not only survive this but, in time, probably get back to 'normal'. I'm now doing just that. So will you.
