Steve ~
Checking back on the thread I note that Brian ('
Pooter') and others have offered you some sound advice but as Brian mentioned, for specifics on your AN (which is medium-sized) and what might be the most efficacious way of addressing it (surgery or irradiation) you'll need to consult with a physician, and likely, more than one. My neurosurgeon approached my specific AN in a manner that gave me a good chance to avoid some of the common complications of AN surgery (facial paralysis, double vision, headaches, etc) and then, employed radiation (FSR) to destroy the remaining tumor's DNA. The FSR was 'low-dose' and I suffered nothing but boredom during the 26 separate treatments (about 25 minutes each, 5 days a week for 5 weeks +1 day). As I've stated, my experienced neurosurgeon (Dr. Goodrich) and later, the bright young radiation oncologist he worked with (Dr. Haas, now re-located to Long Island, N.Y.) teamed up to offer me the best possible approach to destroying my tumor while maintaining my quality of life, afterward. They succeeded magnificently, in my opinion. Even so, neither one could guarantee the outcome of either the surgery or the radiation, except that the radiation oncologist promised me that I wouldn't lose any hair (after initially saying that I probably would. I didn't.) It can be maddening, but the fact that no one, including your doctor or anyone posting here can accurately and honestly predict outcomes of either approach remains the harsh reality of dealing with an acoustic neuroma. Still, we all seem to muddle through, somehow. O.K., some muddle better than others but we all go on with our lives, slightly altered of course and usually with a changed perception about the meaning of life and our place in the world, but still, we carry on and life returns to normal, often, a 'new normal'.
I wanted to mention that although my AN was large and pressing on my brainstem (Dr. Goodrich wanted me in surgery almost immediately but it was more like 3 weeks before I was wheeled into the OR) my symptoms did not really manifest themselves to the point of becoming disabling until a few weeks prior to my diagnosis. I have an aversion to doctor's offices so I ignored them as long as possible but they finally got so bad that I had to do something. Unfortunately, my hearing in the AN affected ear had slowly disappeared over a 5-year period and even though the surgery was successful, the nerve was damaged beyond recovery and I remain deaf in my left ear (SSD or Single Side Deaf). I believe I cope fairly well with it. I'm a relatively fit 65, (21.6 BMI) and while I'm no athlete and prefer a nice air conditioned hotel room to a camping tent, I don't sit around all day, either. I think my balance, although not exactly what it was before the AN affected it, is quite serviceable. I do everything I did prior to my AN diagnosis. However, if I happen to lose my balance (trip or stumble) I don't recover it as quickly as I used to...sometimes not at all, which can be embarrassing but, fortunately, is fairly rare. Last August, my wife and I visited
DisneyWorld® in Orlando, Florida and I went on a lot of fast rides, including
Space Mountain, with absolutely no ill effects. After that, my wife (my biggest supporter all through my AN experience) said
"you must be fully recovered, now". I am - and I'm grateful, every day.
I trust you'll have a similar outcome to your AN experience.
Jim
