Watch and Wait Is Over

[gary.s]

In January of 2017, I took my first MRI to determine why my right ear felt blocked and my hearing muffled. The MRI indicated that I had an acoustic neuroma measuring 1.59 cm x 1.40 cm. My ENT doctor referred me to a neurosurgeon, and I decided to  Watch and Wait with the approval of my doctor. My next MRI in April of 2017 showed no growth of the tumor. I took another MRI in September of 2017 and still no growth. Over the next six months I started having some facial numbness and I had a loss of taste on the right side of my tongue. I took my next MRI on March 5, 2018, and the tumor showed growth. It is now measuring 2.07 cm x 1.70 cm and my watch and wait is over. My neurologist told me that growth of these AN's can occur at anytime. They can remain essentially dormant for long periods of time, even years, and then take off growing again. It is impossible to know how long my AN was stable with no growth prior to my latest MRI. I am now scheduled to have 5 sessions of Cyber Knife Radiosurgery on April 16 to stop the growth of the tumor, and to hopefully halt the progression of my facial numbness. I am now leaving the Watch and Wait group and becoming part of the Radiosurgery group. Best of luck everyone.

Gary

[sharonov]

Good luck to you.  I, too, was watch-and-wait--for over 13 years!  Then I had moderate growth (from 1.4 to 1.6) and it was just enough to impact my trigeminal nerve, to the point where I wanted to cut off half my head the pain was so bad.  Anyhow, I opted for microsurgery and it went well.  I did consider cyber knife at one point, so be sure to post once your procedure is complete.

[gary.s]

I guess the real reason for my original post today is to reiterate how important it is to take your scheduled MRI's. It does not matter how long you have been in the Watch and Wait group, the AN can begin to grow again at anytime. It can also grow rapidly as it did for me in the past six months.

Gary