Hi,
Lita - and welcome.
I'm sorry for the belated response to your initial post but I've been a bit preoccupied with non-ANA things lately. However, I wanted to let you know that your feeling of frustration is fairly common when you find yourself diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma and seeking the best way to address it. Although it's a relatively rare condition, there can be a lot of options when the tumor is small at the time of diagnosis. I'm assuming that you've decided against irradiation treatment and are set on surgery to remove the AN but I also assume that you have the option of simply observing the tumor via semi-annual MRI scans to determine if it is growing. Often, these tumors lie dormant for years, as mine did. Post-surgical hearing retention is usually chancy but an obvious goal, although even with the Retrosigmoid or Middle Fossa surgical approach, there are no guarantees. Unfortunately, this is one of the inevitable risks involved with addressing an acoustic neuroma.
One of the realities you're apparently learning regarding ANs is that each AN patient's situation is unique and there are no 'magic bullet' approaches. Some surgical patients do splendidly and recover quickly with little-to-no hearing loss while others lose their hearing or see it greatly diminished but otherwise come through just fine while others (
thankfully rare) may lose hearing (in one ear) and also struggle with intractable issues for some time. However, most AN surgical patients have a few temporary problems post-op, then recover nicely. I had almost no post-op issues and a good recovery. A few months later I underwent FSR treatments to kill the remaining tumor's DNA. That went well, too. Unfortunately, I had procrastinated about addressing my unilateral hearing loss (later found to be caused by my AN) and the hearing nerve was fatally compromised so hearing retention was never a real issue with me, pre-surgery. Although my neurosurgeon always held out a glimmer of hope, I just assumed my hearing was gone for good in one ear and I adjusted to that reality. That turned out to be a prudent decision as my hearing has never returned in my 'AN ear' (my left). I compensate as necessary. We're a very adaptable species.
We all share in your sense of frustration. It's a tough journey with many crucial decisions involved. No one wants to make a mistake and bitterly regret it later. The critical issues are (a) to find a doctor with extensive experience surgically removing acoustic neuromas, (b) a doctor that you feel comfortable with and, (c) a doctor that accepts your medical insurance and is 'in network'.
These forums exist to help AN patients. We offer our collective advice, information that is practical and based on AN patients' 'real-world' experience - as well as our unequivocal support. We don't second-guess other AN patients medical decisions and we try to offer as much encouragement as possible. We even have a bunch of folks who are willing to talk on the phone to people dealing with AN issues, especially the newly-diagnosed, like you. We know you're in a tough spot because we've been there, too. We made it through and so will you. We don't offer you happy-face bromides but we
are positive and try to help those who are discouraged see that this is not an insurmountable medical problem. We stand ready to answer your questions (
if we can) or direct you to a place where you can get an answer (
if we know of it) and we always try to look ahead, not focusing on past problems that can't be remedied. I hope you'll find the forums both friendly and informative. As I often state, we're 'open' 24/7. Drop in anytime. You're among friends, here.
Jim 
