Hi Sherry and welcome!
  What part of the country do you live in? You have a 1cm growth and they're telling you to watch and wait? That just doesn't sound right to me. Many of us here have been through the mill with growths smaller than that. Mine was huge at 5cm x 5cm. You don't want the thing to get to get even close to that size, believe me! I started to lose my hearing in 1999. Thinking it was due to loud music because I'm a professional musician, I let it go. In Jan. 2002 I started seeing double - all day, every day and especially when I shifted my eyes to the left - I had a left side tumor. This symptom indicated to me that I had a brain tumor. I began to feel constantly lightheaded and malaised as if I was on the verge of coming down with the flu or maybe even hypoglycemic. I had my blood checked, my sugar as well as my CBC - complete blood count - were both normal. The normal CBC indicated to me that what I had was not cancerous be- cause if it was, my white blood count would have probably been really high. Not having insurance, all I could do was see an audiologist, an ENT, a GP, and even a chiropractor, in an effort to officially diagnose what was happening to me. They were all stonewalled without the conclusive proof an MRI could provide.
  In 2005 my symptoms worsened. My equilibrium went on me. I was staggering around like a drunk. Now, everyone could see that I had a problem.  My handwriting deteriorated. I began to think I had M.S. There were a number of times in early summer 2005 that I knew and could feel that I was going to die. It was like something from a Carlos Castaneda book. My whole equilibrium and depth perception were becoming altered in such a way that it is difficult to explain.
 I finally obtained insurance and had an MRI scheduled immediately. The next day the phone was ringing off the hook.
I not only had problems with the tumor, but also the fluid, building up in my cranium and compounding my equilibrium problems. The tumor was so big it was blocking the flow of csf. I had two surgeries: the first for the shunt and the second, a month later for the tumor resection. I was lucky. I had great doctors and we got to it in time. ÂÂ
My advice to you is to get those guys to move on your situation ASAP! Your beginning to to feel the gentle pawstrokes of how bad it
will eventually get. These things don't go away, they only get worse over time. The good thing is that they are typically non-cancerous.
The bad thing is that they can wreak havoc with the cranial nerves. How they effect the nerves usually varies from person to person and that is something you will become quite informed about by particpating in this forum.
 Should you get a second opinion? YES!! Don't go to sleep on it or supress this. The only reason I went as long as I did without treatment was because I had no insurance!!
 Please keep us informed of how you're doing..........Paul
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