Hi MClewell, and thank you for posting your question on the ANA forums.
I have not had a situation like what you describe for yourself, so I'm not really qualified to give you an answer. I not only have a small tumor, but I have 12% word recognition, so almost the opposite situation.
However, what concerns me the most is that I don't detect that you are satisfied with what the team at Duke has told you. You mentioned visiting three doctors. Were they all at Duke? Or did you receive recommendations from other places? If you have consulted with a number of specialists of different kinds (brain surgeons, radiation specialists ,etc.), and if they are all telling you that you should have the translab approach, then that's probably what you ought to do.
However, if you have not had consults with different specialists in different places, then you might consider doing that. A specialist at Duke might recommend that approach just because that is what he/she is most skilled at. But a specialist at House in California might recommend a different surgery approach which saves more of your hearing. Maybe a doctor who specializes in radiation treatment at, say, Mayo in Minnesota might recommend a different type of treatment (and less invasive) than what Duke is saying.
You only have one chance to receive the treatment you need, so you should check out as many options as you can. And if the various ones agree that translab is the approach you need, then you can enter that surgery at Duke with confidence that it is the right thing to do for your situation. But, if it were me, I would arrange for different consults (which are often free and can sometimes be done over Zoom, by the way). And maybe you have done that. Personally, I would feel more confident if I went under the knife knowing that the translab approach was what others (outside of Duke) also recommended.
Best of wishes for your treatment!
Don
