Overly reluctant doctor?

[Plane23]

Hello,

I am a 36 year old male who was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma last November. My current symptoms are tinnitus and mild to severe hearing loss on the left hand side. My AN measures 24x24x23mm.
I was referred on to an ENT surgeon who took a look at my case and decided to take a wait and see approach with another scan to be conducted in September.

From what I've read this size of AN would warrant a more immediate reaction but maybe I'm just being impatient. Has anybody had an AN of that size that they've continued watch and wait on? Would anyone recommend getting a second opinion?

Thanks.

[MarlaB]

Welcome to the club no one wants to belong to, but know you are not alone!!

Personally, I had 8 "second" opinions, until I found the one that "felt" right for me, which was to wait and see and get a second MRI in six months, and then decided what was next if it or my symptoms grew or changed.

Mine did, and I had surgery.

There are others here who have been on W&W ("watch and wait") for decades.

I trust you will discover what is best for you, your health, and your peace of mind.

Marla B

[Mark F.]

From what I have noticed it takes a lot of symptoms or a very very large tumor for doctors to act quickly.  With the size of your tumor and the symptoms being minor at the moment I'm not surprised that they are choosing to wait.  They usually want at to determine if it's growing and if so what the growth rate is.  I am a little surprised that they are waiting what appears to be 10 months for another scan.  My second MRI was only 3 months from the first one.  Mine was determined to be growing slowly and I ended up having 7 MRI's over the next couple years, with minor growth showing every single time, and symptoms multiplying as well before they finally said ok it's time to do surgery.  I chose the surgical route over the radiation route because I had read several cases where radiation either didn't work at all, or was only a temporary solution.  I felt that the surgery gave the best chance of being done with it for good.  But there are others who went the radiation path and had success that way too with significantly less recovery time.  Personally I feel my recovery couldn't have gone better.  I am single side deaf now, but by the time they finally agreed to do the surgery I had less than 10 percent hearing left in that ear anyway so it really isn't that much of change. 

[ESH]

I am not surprised at the length between the initial scan and the second scan. Some doctors seem to be moving to the idea that the growth rate of slower growing tumors is more easily seen around the 9 month or so mark so if there is "room" for growth it is better to wait.

I am much older than you and, for now, have decided to watch and wait. I was very uncomfortable with that approach initially, partly because I had some communication issues with my neurotologist. A second opinion and the right question helped me. The question was "please explain the pros and cons of watch and wait v. surgery v. radiation as you see them for me right now." The answer to that question, especially from the second opinion doctor, let me hear the reasoning behind the recommendation. It gave a LOT of information that I could use to evaluate.

[DanFouratt]

Marla said it right get a second opinion. We need to be our own advocates.  I sat in watch and wait until my tumor grew a little. It was smaller then yours but I chose to take action as I did not want my symptoms to get worse.  That was mine decision and it was right for me. Each of us need to do what is right for us at the time.  I then researched my options for treatment and where was the best place. I chose CK for the treatment.  Again that was what I felt was best for me. If you want I will share the research with you email me at Dan4att@gmail.com.  Please do you think is best for you.

Good Luck on your journey.

Dan

[Lucy Lopez]

Hello,

I am a 36 year old male who was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma last November. My current symptoms are tinnitus and mild to severe hearing loss on the left hand side. My AN measures 24x24x23mm.
I was referred on to an ENT surgeon who took a look at my case and decided to take a wait and see approach with another scan to be conducted in September.

From what I've read this size of AN would warrant a more immediate reaction but maybe I'm just being impatient. Has anybody had an AN of that size that they've continued watch and wait on? Would anyone recommend getting a second opinion?

Thanks.
run 3 online

Hey, sorry you’re going through this — that’s a lot to take in.

From what I understand, a 24mm acoustic neuroma is kind of in that grey zone where some doctors may still suggest “watch and wait,” especially if symptoms are manageable and there’s no rapid growth or brainstem compression. But you’re not wrong for questioning it — a lot of people with tumors around that size do end up discussing treatment options like surgery or radiation.

Personally, I think getting a second opinion is always a good idea in cases like this. Different specialists can have pretty different approaches, and it might give you more clarity or peace of mind about whether monitoring is the right call right now.

You’re definitely not being impatient — it’s your health, and it’s totally reasonable to want to feel confident in the plan.

Hope others here can share their experiences too.