Author Topic: Surgery vs. Watch and Wait - any advice would be great  (Read 2891 times)

newbie77

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Surgery vs. Watch and Wait - any advice would be great
« on: October 13, 2015, 11:29:16 am »
Hi,
I'm trying to decide between surgery vs. watch and wait.  My tumor is 1.5 and I've had 3 opinions that I could do either, 1 said W&W, and waiting for a 5th.  It is hard b/c I currently have good hearing so the risk of losing it is scary.  Additionally, some of the other surgery risks, spinal leak, ongoing headaches, balance problems etc.

Additionally, even with surgery, the doctors recommendations are either middle fossa or retro sig.  This is also daunting since RS has the headache risk.  MF scares me a little bit b/c one doctor said MF is done by opening your brain by the temporal lobe and having to retract it which is more dangerous.

I'd love any advice.
Thank you so much!

ANGuy

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Re: Surgery vs. Watch and Wait - any advice would be great
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2015, 01:56:37 pm »
There really is no advice to give regarding your choices.  Your Drs. will or have given you information and you will have decisions to make.  You will have to decide which Dr/Drs you have the most confidence in and which path would be best for you.

Make sure you make your decisions based on accurate info and not the typical "advice" that often comes across which consists of "I did choice A so you should do that too".  By accurate info I mean things along the line of your point about hearing.  WW can cost you your hearing, sure, but getting treatment could also cost you your hearing.  I don't know which one would be better for you but it is a lead pipe cinch that nobody on this board can tell you which would guarantee your hearing would stay intact.
Diagnosed June 2014 1cm AN at 47 years of age.  Had fluctuating symptoms since 2006.    6 mos MRI (Dec 2014) showed no growth, MRI  in July 2015 showed no growth.  MRI Jan 2016 showed no growth.  MRI Aug 2016 showed no growth.  I'm gonna ride the WW train as long as I can.