Hello, my mother was diagnosed AN in April. The tumor was about 4 cm at the time, I can't be more precise because I don't know more details. Doctors said it had stretched the facial nerve. The tumor is pressing on the brain stem and at the time she was diagnosed she had already lost hearing on that side. My mother refused to go for surgery, which is what all doctors recommended as they thought it would not be safe to treat with radiotherapy. Now, month of November, she has difficulty in walking -cannot walk without help and has fallen several times, suffers memory loss and sometimes confusion, is always tired and therefore spends most of her time in bed. Perhaps the fact that she already has these problems would make her change her mind and consider an operation, but I do not want to suggest this if it is too late already for her. Tomorrow I will speak to one of the surgeons she saw to find out if he thinks he should see her again, to determine whether she could still undergo an operation. However, I would like to know if anyone had this experience where at the time of the operation they already could not stand or walk without help.
Also, I would like to know if there is anybody out there that has decided not to have an operation although they already needed it (different from the watch and wait option where the tumor is not that large yet) and learn if they have any useful advice, since this is the option my mother seems to prefer. Thank you!
