Hi Guys
I’m a new UK poster who has been reading your ANA discussion forum once in a while and which has provided me with a wealth of information and views from fellow AN sufferers. I don’t really have any questions just now but for the story I am female 61 and was diagnosed with an AN in May 2011 about 1cm as far as I could gather at the time and have been a wait and watcher since then. In the summer of 2012 however following my second MRI with gadolinium it was found my AN had grown a fair bit by about 5 millimetres although no one seemed to be certain about this as the neurosurgeon pointed out to me there is a lot of variation in how these things are measured. Well I knew all this already from you good folks. My main symptoms are loss of high frequency hearing in my right AN ear and the dreaded tinnitus which for me is the very worst thing and there are times when I have wondered if I can continue to endure it. Well we just do endure it don’t we because we have to. My hearing loss has remained pretty stable in the last twelve months and I am praying it will stay that way. Anyway back in August this year I was referred by my neurosurgeon to the UK’s National Stereotactic Radiosurgery centre which is in Sheffield in the north of the country (I live on the South Coast about 250 miles away) and my GK treatment is scheduled in just over a weeks’s time on 8th January 2013. I pretty much know what to expect thanks to the information posted here on this forum and of course I am nervous about the whole procedure from fitting of the frame to possible symptoms post treatment. I’ll let you know how things go and hopefully come back to you with a positive experience despite the fact that in truth I’m a glass half empty person if you get my meaning. Thanks for listening. I’ll try not to make it so long next time but just wanted to say it's comforting to have other people out there who know what you are going through and are prepared to support and offer advice. Happy New Year to everyone.
Just as an aside I have visited the US many many times and seen much of your beautiful scenery in California, Arizona, Colorado, Utah to name but a few. Absolutely amazing.
