Acoustic Neuroma Patient Stories
Read stories from the ANA community and share your own acoustic neuroma story to help inspire others.
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Be Your Own Advocate
by Pamela Brown
I was diagnosed with AN in the early 2000s. My only symptom was twitching in my left eye. After the devastating news was confirmed, the neurologist discussed treatments, and I decided to have 24 sessions of radiotherapy. I was working full-time, so I went for treatments during my lunch hour. I experienced nausea near the end of radiation, but it diminished immediately after I finished my treatments.
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Did Daniel Boone (1734-1820) have an Acoustic Neuroma?
By Richard J. Barker
Richard J. Barker is Professor of History Emeritus at Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, NJ. He was one of the founder-members of the Acoustic Neuroma Association of NJ (ANA/NJ) in 1995 and served for many years as editor of the ANA/NJ Newsletter.
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Moving Forward After Acoustic Neuroma Interrupted Our Plans for A Family
Kelly Stedman
In January 2020, I was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma after failing an audiogram. I was 31 years old. My husband and I planned to have kids, so I decided to have Translab surgery in October. Though my tumor was fully removed, I was left single-sided deaf with permanent facial paralysis and synkinesis.
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Acoustic Neuroma Diagnosis at Two-Weeks Postpartum
Stacy Leverty
When I was six weeks pregnant, I had 90% hearing loss in my left ear. My ENT wanted to do an MRI but decided to wait due to the baby. In the meantime, I took Prednisone and had some success and some hearing did return. My ENT suspected a tumor, and in July 2021, when I was two weeks postpartum, I was diagnosed with a 1.7 cm AN.
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PARENTING WITH HEARING LOSS
Emily Truell
ANA Peer Mentor and Support Group Leader
*Reprinted with permission from HLAA*
I was 27 when I realized I couldn’t understand phone calls if I used my left ear. I told my primary doctor, who scheduled a battery of tests. After hearing exams, audiology and otolaryngology appointments and an MRI, I was diagnosed with a 3cm acoustic neuroma (or vestibular schwannoma), a non-cancerous brain tumor. At that point, I’d already lost significant hearing in my left ear, and surgery to remove the brain tumor resulted in single-sided deafness.
