My name is Dominique, I am from Europe. in 2008 my brain suddenly experienced vertigo about one minute and reappeared in short time. I went to check everything in the ER and was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma at 5 mm. My doctor recommended a watch-and-wait approach. I have no clear symptoms in 16 years. My acoustic neuroma has been growing slowly in 16 years from 5 mm to 8 mm. I used to get yearly physicals when I visited Europe each year, but with COVID travel restrictions I started to get exams at a university hospital with two departments of Neurology and ENT at Philadelphia in 2021.
My tumor has suddenly increased to 12 mm in length in Feb. of 2024, I still have no clear symptoms but occasional dizziness. I keep seeing doctors in this university hospital and they do not have much WW experience about AN and MRI & contrast agents. I required to check MRI every 6 months due to my tumor growth up to 30%. My doctor agreed but asked me to get an MRI "with contrast "and "without contrast". I worry about possible kidney damage by the contrast agent. (Recently I found that my kidneys were worse than before due to 2 times MRI with contrast.) Does anyone have some advice about "MRI and contrast agents" ?
In the mean time, I would like to ask for help! If someone could recommend a good specialist in the Philadelphia area and nearly who would provide ‘watch and wait’ care for my case and understand the need of MRI without contrast agent (because I worry about possible kidney damage,) I should appreciate it very much.
