AN in Australian soap "Neighbours "

[kat]

Hi everyone

I do not know if you guys get the Australian soap Neighbours in USA . At the moment here in the UK many of the BANA members have been outraged about a recent storyline where a character Paul is diagnosed with AN and right from the start it is portrayed as a terminal condition with alarming symptoms including exruciating headaches , nosebleeds and hallucinations, amongst others .  In fact he has an imaginary friend who in the last episode advised him not to have the operation since the tumour was so wrapped around his brain that if it went ahead he would end up as a vegetable !! Many Bana members have written to the BBC to complain but the answer they have got is that thorough research had been done allowing some artistic licence !! I just feel sorry for any AN newbies who might be watching and will be scared silly if they belieive any of it . I do know that in the future things get a bit
better but in an equally unbelieavable way but since if any of you out there might be watching I do not wish to spoil the plot for you allthough to a large extent it has been lost right from the start. 

Regards Kat   

[Jim Scott]

Hi, Kat:

Thanks for the heads-up regarding the Aussie soap story line that uses 'artistic license' to grossly exaggerate the true symptoms of an acoustic neuroma tumor.  You know, it's bad enough that many people who are diagnosed with an AN already (mistakenly) believe they're going to die within months or become a 'vegetable'.  However, once these kinds of untruths are convincingly portrayed on TV, it establishes the fallacy in many people's minds.  Unfortunately, all the facts in the world may not change that false perception when one hears the term: 'acoustic neuroma'.  To my knowledge, we don't receive the show 'Neighbours' here in the U.S., but I'm not a soap opera fan and don't watch much TV, so I could be mistaken.  I hope not.

I believe the misunderstandings arise from the concept that since an acoustic neuroma is usually referred to as a 'brain tumor', most people simply think this is the same as having brain cancer.  We know better but many do not and stupid TV show story lines that mix up brain cancer with an acoustic neuroma do everyone a disservice.  My brother-in-law died of brain cancer in 2005.  It was painful and heartbreaking for my sister, who saw her husband of 22 years slowly lose the ability to speak or move, as he lay dying in his bed, at home, where he had requested he be allowed to live out his last days.  Once you have been close to that situation - brain cancer - having an acoustic neuroma,(a benign tumor between the skull and the brain)  although no walk in the park, by any means, can be handled with a certain degree of equanimity.  It is not malignant and it can be successfully treated with surgery, radiation and sometimes both.  I'm living proof of that. 

Even so, I resent TV writers - in Australia or anywhere else - abusing their 'artistic license' to fabricate horrible symptoms and deadly outcomes for those who suffer from having an acoustic neuroma tumor. The reality of having an acoustic neuroma tumor to deal with is bad enough without some stupid TV show disseminating fictitious information and giving the public false impressions about AN tumors.  I hope this doesn't happen here in the U.S.  If it did, I would expect the ANA to erect a wall of complaint and offer stiff resistance to the misinformation and not allow 'artistic license' excuses to win the day. 

Jim

[Rc Moser]

well, I can't speak for everybody that's had a AN, but we all have different results before, during after a hole is cut into your head, and being poked and pulled on the crainal nerves. Yes, we are the lucky ones that don't usually have to deal with cancer and 98% of us have good results, but I can't say somebody somewhere hasn't had these conditions.

IMO anything that makes people more aware about our condition is not all bad, even if it's a stupid TV show. IMO most TV shows have nothing to do realitiy anyway and inflate story lines to spark interest, which this one did.

People with Degree's call it a brain tumor and it is inside the skull. So IMO it is a brain tumor. IMO if you've never had  "exruciating headaches" you really don't know what people go through in real life. This IMO is one of the side effects of AN's. Luckily most of use don't experience them.