Nate:
Well, I'm certainly 'impressed' by the size of your AN. That was a biggie! Glad you survived it and are now 'AN free'.
I had a dinky 4.5cm AN tumor and now I know why my neurosurgeon was so anxious to get it out! He did tell me that it could kill me- but not how soon! Apparently within
weeks, had I not had it removed. He didn't put in a shunt pre-op but told my wife that when they opened my skull, the cerebral fluid literally 'poured' out as my brain had been so severely pushed to one side. I had the 'usual' symptoms (loss of hearing, equilibrium, appetite and some unexplained listlessness) but no idea of what was wrong until my Primary Care Physician ordered an MRI for me. That showed the AN, plain as day. He called me immediately to inform me and very strongly suggested I see a neurosurgeon as soon as possible. I saw the one he recommended and, thanks to the information I gained on this site, I realized the man didn't know much about Acoustic Neuromas, much less, removing them. I got a referral to another neurosurgeon in New Haven (30 miles away from my home) and he was my choice, as he is a mature surgeon and probably the best one for removing AN tumors in my entire state, according to the hospital nurses. They respected him, deeply and sincerely. After the great job he did on removing my tumor, I do too, more than ever.
Thanks for keeping us all in some sort of perspective, Nate. By the way: your wife and daughter are lovely. You are blessed.
Jim
