Just returned from the Mayo Clinic for a reading of my most recent MRI done June 5, 2013. My 7mm tumor is now maybe 8mm, so very minimal growth. Some further hearing loss on my AN side. My tinnitus has gotten more "entertaining," more volume variations, more kinds of sounds. But I am able to ignore it 99% of the time. No balance or facial symptoms.
Plan remains the same: watch and wait, have another MRI in a year, report any significant changes. Waiting is the best choice for me, hands down. All treatment options at this point would potentially do more harm than this AN is doing left alone.
Radiation with gamma knife is still my choice of treatment, should that become necessary. I've resigned myself to the eventual loss of all hearing in my AN ear, no matter what I do. Just a question of when. From all I've read and heard, the acoustic nerve is just too sensitive to trauma. So be it.
I remain grateful to my Dr's, Link and Discoll, to my AN friends who I've met through the Twin City support group meeting, and to the faithful who keep this forum and the ANA going.
