Newly diagnosed

[Cheryl R]

Depends on who you see.    Many surgeons or neurotologists will say surgery and a radiation oncologists will go radiation.    Only a certain number will push either/or and then it is what you feel is best for you.              That is what makes this all so hard.    Some may depend on where you live and how far away you are from the centers for treatment.                     My neurotologist at Univ of Iowa is pro surgery which is what I have done for 3 tumors since in time was found to be NF2.      I would have had to go out of state for radiation but I was also prosurgery so did not think alot about radiation.       I would do the same if having to do it again.
              Good luck with this as it all varies with each person.        Cheryl R

[dalern]

I agree with everything that has been said.  My 2 cents worth is that the more opinions you get, the more confusing it gets.  If you are very comfortable with one of the docs, I would go with that choice.  If you are not 100% confident in either one, that would be a reason for a 3rd opinion.  Sometimes there are as many opinions as their are doctors, and then you are left just shaking your head.  You need to think about what your gut feeling is about your own treatment.  It is totally a personal decision.  When I had my craniotomy for a lesion in the third ventricle, I also had gotten an opinion to watch and wait.  When I heard that there had been reported cases of sudden death for those with the same tumor, my mind was made up.  I knew I had to have surgery.  Others may have chosen differently.  No one can tell you what is best for you except YOU.  Just gather information and process it the best you can.  That should help you decide.  The 3% risk seemed to resonate with you.  Keep that in mind.  I am not one to tell anyone what choice to make....just gather information and go with your gut. 
Welcome to the forum, cakulmom!
~Dale~
Do inquire about a BAHA.  May be a better and more natural choice than sign language.

[Cheryl R]

I will add more about drs as each dr has his own way how he does things or his own protocol with a certain type of surgery.    So even if do choose to have surgery may have a bit of a different way with one surgeon than another.  Plus their post surgery meds vary.             Our recent posts here lately about facial schwannomas shows that not everyone will do the same when they find one.    Also one does not know ahead exactly what damage the AN has done to the nerves and that plays a part in how the surgery may go no matter how good the dr is or how much experience he has.       The tumor location varies also and plays a part in all this too.     
Many who have some long term problems are here and many who do well and recover easily in time are only on for a time.   One doesn't always see that unless have been here for a longer time.                Cheryl R

[james e]

You are in the most difficult stage...what do I do??? I made my mind up and changed it at least 3 times. Each time my mind was made up, I was sure  it was really made up...this time.

Medicine is a job, and when I realized that, I took a different approach to my treatment. It's not wrong to look at these doctors as applicants on a job interview, and you are interviewing them, hiring them to treat you. Find out as much as you can about each doctor. There is a large data base of questions on  this site  that you can ask them. If there were 10 ways to treat you, you would find 10 doctors that would all make 10 different approaches to treating you. The recovery is generally short term, so think of what your long term results will be. Don't pick a doc just because they have an opinion!

I picked surgery because I felt, after asking all  the questions, that I would have a better long term results. There are people here that have had wonderful out comes from surgery, radiation, or a combination of the two. The choice has to be yours. Don't pick a doctor just because they have a recommendation...they all have one!  There is generally no rush to get these tumors treated, so just take your time, read everything you can, ask more questions, visit all of the boards here, listen to the outcomes of others.

When you can grab the rock from my hand grasshopper...you will know....

[leapyrtwins]

cakulmom -

as I recommended to you in my PM last week, I have an excellent neurotologist at the Ear Institute of Chicago.  Chicago Ear has one of the best reputations in our area and is considered by the ANA to be a Center of Excellence.

The docs there do both radiaton (GK) and surgery and while I can't speak for 2 of the doctors there - as I never consulted with them - my doctor, Robert Battista will give you an unbiased opinion if you are a candidate for both procedures.  If he feels, based on the size and location of your AN, that one choice of treatment is clearly preferred over the other, he will definitely tell you that.

He is a very good doctor - believes in telling you everything you need to know (whether it's "pretty" or not) - and he's got a wonderful bedside manner.  He is very experienced, does AN surgery, GK, BAHA and Cochlear Implants and just recently completed surgical training with Envoy Medical to implant the world's first totally implantable hearing aid (the Esteem) - a distinction that only a handful of surgeons in the US have received.  In addition, he's the director of the pediatric hearing program @ Adventist Hinsdale Hospital and he's well-published.

I have personally referred numerous patients to him and have never regretted it; to the best of my knowledge, neither have they.

If you do decide to schedule a consult with him, please tell him I referred you.

Jan