Jill ~
"Dye your hair blond and become a dizzy blond because there is nothing wrong". That kind of belittling, absurd response from an educated, licensed physician is equally infuriating and pathetic. We could have quite a long thread comprised of nothing but ridiculous 'diagnoses' and condescending suggestions on how to deal with what we (eventually) found out were AN symptoms from doctors that got it totally wrong - and charged for this misdiagnosis. I respect doctors and was fortunate to have an experienced, skilled and compassionate neurosurgeon handle my AN surgery and oversee the subsequent radiation treatment. I hold no animus toward anyone in the medical profession. However, as I read through threads such as this and see the numerous instances of misdiagnosis and often near-insulting comments directed at patients struggling with AN symptoms coming from medical doctors that should know better, I'm irritated. I understand that acoustic neuromas are relatively rare and some PCP and even ENT specialists aren't looking for or even have much knowledge about these benign tumors. Still, the number of wildly wrong diagnoses and sometimes flip comments from doctors, directed at patients who are suffering with increasingly severe symptoms, is simply unacceptable. Of course, there are wonderful, considerate doctors out there and all doctors share our humanity which includes being wrong and even insensitive. That reality doesn't make it any easier for the undiagnosed AN patient who is told to learn how to walk properly or that "there is nothing wrong" so "dye your hair blond and become a dizzy blond". I understand that comment was clearly an effort to be amusing but it made light of what should have been taken seriously by an educated, experienced physician. These accounts of doctor blundering once again demonstrate that , as others have said and I'll reiterate: we simply must be pro-active with our health care. I know this admonition has become almost trite at this point, but it's still valid.
Jim
