Dear Fellow AN'ers,
This month I celebrated my one year anniversary with acoustic neuroma. What a difference a year makes! Last year around this time I had only one thought on my mind, my recently diagnosed acoustic neuroma. I was researching treatment options, getting second opinions, and talking to my fellow AN'ers on the Willing to Talk list and here on this Forum. Fast forward to June 2016, I am trying to decide whether to take a new position that will be a promotion, but also involves an increase in responsibility. It turns out, the decision to treat my acoustic neuroma was far easier to make. After extensive research, and listening to interviews with Dr. Chang, I came to the conclusion that CyberKnife is my treatment of choice.
Of course there was panic, fear of the unknown, will I experience the rare side effects or will I be one of the lucky ones who breeze through it. There was a period of anxiety with every symptom during the first six months. Six months MRI showed swelling, but so far the symptoms are tolerable; facial spasms and tinnitus. The tinnitus increases in volume when I get stressed, it's almost like an inner alarm that goes off if I am exerting too much effort. It makes me slow down. So this could be the silver lining of having an Acoustic Neuroma. The facial spasms occur at odd times, usually in the shower or when I wake up. Some days are better than others, and some days I forget about my AN.
Happy Anniversary AN!
CattAN
