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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Finding Support in Others and Something “Bigger”
Robert Fishbone
One of the hardest things I ever had to do was tell my two kids about my acoustic neuroma. It was June, 2017. Though I was assured it was benign, non-cancerous, not malignant, the words “I have something I need to tell you” have a frightening history for them.
Those were the same words we used when we told them back in 2006 that my wife had late stage ovarian cancer.
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My AN Journey
Melanie Hok
A few years before my diagnosis, the only thing that would clue someone to the fact that something was wrong with me was the decreased hearing in my right ear. Otherwise I was fine. When I realized that the hearing in my right ear was almost completely gone, I made an appointment with an ENT. At my appointment an audiologist did a thorough hearing test and the ENT did a physical exam. I was told I had unilateral hearing loss, which, according to the ENT, was uncommon, especially for someone my age (35).
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My name Eric and this is my acoustic neuroma story. I am a career firefighter married to a career police officer in North Carolina. Fingers crossed, my wife and I can retire together the same year in about five years. Like most other firefighters that I know and work with, I have a second job that I do on my days off. My second job is working as an arborist and includes tree pruning, tree removal, stump grinding, and tree planting. Doing this second job was what led to the discovery of my acoustic neuroma.
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Pleased With My Outcome
Richard Ryon
My first suspicion that something was wrong was not hearing or dizziness. It was balance. I have solar panels on my roof to heat my swimming pool. Occasionally, it is necessary to repair leaks. While doing so, I felt very uncomfortable walking near the edge of my roof. I subsequently noticed that I was weaving about like a drunken sailor when walking.
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Give Yourself Time
Meagan Doumont
2016 was supposed to be my year. I graduated nursing school, got hired in the neonatal intensive care unit and was one of the lucky ones who was actually paid to do specialty training. Everything was falling into place! Or so I thought.
After ongoing investigation of single side hearing loss, balance issues, severe headaches, exhaustion and facial numbness, I finally had to face what my body was trying to tell me —- which was that I had a large brain tumor growing in the base of my skull. At 30 years old, and what was supposed to be the peak of my life, I was told news that would ultimately change my life forever.
