Even small AN's like yours can have some bad symptoms. At least you know it's there now and believe me that's a big plus. A lot of people aren't diagnosed until the AN is much larger. The tumor is growing off of the cells around the balance nerve. The balance nerve is being damaged either by pressure, or the tumor is taking away the blood supply of the nerve. The problem is that as the nerve slowly gets damaged there are still partial signals that get through and this causes your brain to get mixed up signals from one side, resulting in dizziness and balance problems among other. Eventually it will probably affect your hearing also as the two nerves are in close contact.
Have you talked with any doctors yet on treatment? The best advice you will get here is to seek out opinions from doctors that have vast amounts of experience with AN's. Many of these doctors are mentioned here on these forums. As your tumor is small you probably have most all treatment options available to you. Watch and wait, Microsurgery or Gamma or Cyber Knife.
Unfortunately nobody can predict the future. Chances of symptoms going away, tumor regrowth, facial paralysis and every thing else that could happen with or without treatment is just all a guess. Seeking out the best doctors have proven to produce better outcomes but, alas, there are no guarantees. My AN was about 3 times bigger than yours. I actually had very severe dizzy spells 10 years before being diagnosed. They would usually calm down after a while. It wasn't until I finally realized there was something wrong with my hearing that I was finally diagnosed. I had GK at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center (UPMC) seven years ago now. My hearing was gone before treatment but, other than that life has been pretty good. Good luck to you .
