Chris75,
I didn't read how you found out about your AN (sudden hearing loss, balance issues, headaches, etc). I was asking to find out how it is currently affecting your world wide deployment status. A little about me...I found out about my AN while I was on active duty in the Air Force...I found it because I failed three hearing tests in a row, (I worked on helicopters and an annual hearing test was a requirement). I had my AN treated by Gamma Knife at the University of Virginia. I retired in 2005 after serving 23 years. I'm the one keeping the thread alive in the Insurance link because as a military member we have different issues to deal with as TRICARE is a different animal. Finding your AN while on active duty does have its benefits, (convelescent leave, medical TDYs to deal with this issue, military transport (hops) to save on airfare). You should be given a choice on how you want to treat your AN by the military docs.
OK...now the hard part...this is something that you will have to get smart on yourself and make a personal decision on how to treat your tumor. Surgeons will recommend the surgical route and warn against radiation, and radiologists will recommend the radiation route and warn against surgery. This is not the time to just trust the doc and not ask questions....even if the Doc is a a much higher rank than you! Ask questions, don't be intimidated by rank. I went to the largest hospitals in the area (to include the military hospitals ) and spent time in their medical libraries. I researched all routes of treatment (watch and wait, surgery, and radiation) and made my personal decision to go radiation as it met all my personal deciding factors of 1) I wanted the method with the least amount of complications, 2) I wanted to treat it only once (hopefully), and 3) I wanted to return to duty as soon as possible. I suggest that you start off with making a list of YOUR personal deciding factors first and then research the treatment methods. Caution: the internet can litterally overwhelm you with info....but you'll notice that a lot of it is similar and some is dated. Personally, I didn't use any info that was over 5 years old (from the internet and the libraries).
Talk with family and close friends about your decision, and get feedback from them...for me prayer helped in making my decision as well. And now the easier part....once you make your decision on how to treat this...you will feel a feeling of peace...making the treatment decision is truely the hardest part. Whatever route you choose we will all be here to offer our words of support...we've been there.
GM
