39Yr Female,New ANer, asking abt Dr.Akagami of Vancouver or Doctors in Toronto

[Marywin]

Hi, Everyone,

I am 39yr Female,living in Toronto.
I am newly diagnosed 39yr Female with an over 1cm AN in the left ear.
Symptons including: ringing in the ear, vertigo, unbalance

New symptons are appearing:
Pain in the tongue tip and back;
A weird numbness of my face and scalp; Pain of the left arm and shoulder.

I got referral to some doctors in Sunny brook Hospital at Toronto. But still didnot get any feedback yet. I tried to contact the secretry, but they didn't answer me.

I know some friends in this forum were seen by Dr. Akagami.
Since I lived in Toronto, can I be referred to Dr. Akagami in Vancouver?

[RGG]

Hi Marywin,

I'm also from Toronto, and recently diagnozed with a large AN.  I initially got referrals to Dr. Chen at Sunnybrook and Dr. Rutka at Toronto General.  It took a few weeks to get the appointment after the referrals were sent, and got an appointment about a month after.  I would keep calling to find out when your appointment is, you can call the ENT clinic directly if Dr. Chen's secretary isn't responding (I remember it was on the referral form, but i'm sure you can also find it online).

After seeing both doctors in Toronto, I also decided to see Dr. Akagami after reading the good reviews on this site.  I emailed him directly, and his secretary responded to me that I need to get a referral from my family doctor, to be faxed along with all test results (I also ended up mailing a CD with my MRI, though I think they can request that from the hospital in Toronto).  So you can just give your family doctor Dr. Akagami's details, and ask them to write you a referral.  Just to let you know though, it took about 5 weeks to get an appointment notice after they received my referral (I just got it last week).  I was also told it can take up to a year to see Dr. Akagami depending on the urgency.  My AN is quite a bit larger than yours (about 3cm), and I got an appointment for the first week of May.

Hope that helps, good luck with your referrals!

Rumen
 

[Gr8fulDad]

Hi there!!

I'm also from Toronto and I am having surgery at Toronto Western Hospital on May 26.  I did tons of research and in the end I opted for Dr. Gelareh Zadeh at TWH.  She is the chair of the medical advisory board of the Acoustic Neuroma Association of Canada.  It is my understanding  that Dr. Zadeh and Dr. Tymianski (both at TWH) probably do the most AN surgeries in Canada.  I would also suggest meeting wiht Dr. Normand Laperriere who is a radio-oncologist at Princess Margaret Hospital.  He is really lovely.  I'm pretty sure that Dr. Laperriere sees patients on Tuesday mornings at the Gamma Knife Clinic at TWH.  The benefit of seeing him there is that the clinic is always staffed with a neurosurgeon and a radio oncologist, so you get to see both.

Consider joining the Acoustic Neuroma Association of Canada.  The next support meeting is May 31 at the Hearing Society on Spadina at Davenport - just on the south end of Casa Loma.  You won't believe the information people have about options in Canada.  The group really helped me.  They are also hosting an AN symposium on June 4 and the Canadian who's who of acoustic neuromas will be there and presenting all kinds of useful information.  It really is something that no AN patient living in Toronto should miss.  I'll be recovering from my surgery, so I won't be making it.

Good luck!!

David

[tenai98]

Hi there.

From Ottawa here.  I had Drs Schramm and Benoit for my surgery and no complaints.   Unfortunately, the little bugger has grown again and this time I am doing CK.  Have you considered CK?  It is now available in Ottawa and I believe, in Hamilton.    Sounds like your tumour is small as mine was in the beginning.  Now the sucker has almost doubled in size since original dx.   
Good luck in your journey. 
Joann