Author Topic: AN Comparison Chart of Treatments for those beginning their Search  (Read 1839 times)

Kate B

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In 2001, I put together a chart of treatments with side effects and then went out searching for statistics to fill in relative to outcomes.
It is somewhat outdated, but if you'd like to see it, send me a message with your email and I will send it to you in a Word Document.

If you are starting your AN journey, you are doing the right thing by going out and trying
to find information before making a commitment to a treatment.  As you may
know, there is no *best* way to treat it. They all can have unanticipated
consequences--even waiting and watching.  It ends up being an individual
decision.

After all my reading, I learned that the treatment choice depends on the
size of the tumor, its location, and your hearing level mostly. It  took me
until September  (and I was diagnosed in May2001 and my treatment was at
the end of November2001) to know what I really wanted to do and where to go.
I considered each treatment option seriously and oftentimes felt overwhelmed
with all of the information.

My right sided growth was 1.5 cm. After reflecting over my experience, I
want to *emphasize* one thing: the experience, expertise and passion of the
doctor you select for treatment means everything no matter which treatment.
Most agree that they need experience with more than 100 cases.  That
statement circles back to the paradigm shift.

Through my reading, I also learned about potential side effects and about
the many excellent facilities throughout the country. One of the first
decisions I made was that this was unique enough of a condition that it
warranted going where the expertise works even if it was outside of my local
area. I looked for patterns in the posts on the listserv related to
treatments and doctors. The listservs and guest books provide great info,
but it can also raise anxiety because each tumor is individual.

Then it dawned on me that I didn't know how listserv member's posts and the
side effects they were experiencing fit into the larger picture.How frequent
were side effects related to the various treatments?  Could I generalize
from the qualitative data? That caused me to put together a chart. I wanted to know
the data related to hearing preservation, facial nerve preservation,  in relationship to the
size of the tumor etc... It is another way to look at treatments.

This chart compares some of the various treatments using citations from
medical professionals, websites, or physician's e-mails. It is a laypersons
attempt to condense medical citations and information and that makes this
chart different from most. However, I am *not* a medical professional and no
decision should be made based on the chart. It was meant
to be a starting point for a conversation with your doctor. Please e-mail me if you'd like a copy. With this new format, I am not sure how to attach it.  The
chart also includes some of the most common websites.. I also put myself
through some questions that helped me make my decision. They are included
under the heading "One Size does not Fit All" at the http://anworld.com/

Kindest Regards,
Kate

« Last Edit: February 09, 2008, 05:55:42 pm by Kate Besserman »
Kate
Middle Fossa Surgery
@ House Ear Institute with
Dr. Brackmann, Dr. Hitselberger
November 2001
1.5 right sided AN

Please visit http://anworld.com/