Hi Janey .....
I, also, am from WV. There are only a few AN patients from WV, who have registered on this discussion forum. Although not possible to search that way, you might notice that many of us have gone out of state for treatment.
Dr. Cassis is relatively new to WV. He came here about 18 months ago after he finished his fellowship at House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles. He is well-trained but I know nothing about how many AN surgeries he has actually participated in since being at WVU. He is an otolaryngologist and presumably works with a neurosurgeon at WVU. That means the neurosurgeon needs to be equally well-trained in acoustic neuroma removals, as well. Actually, when working in tandem, the neurosurgeon normally removes the actual tumor, while the otolaryngologist opens, takes it to the internal auditory canal, and then sometimes closes if they "tag team." Each medical facility has its own protocol for this.
If you would like to talk, feel free to contact me via private message.
Clarice
