Dear coloradokidd,
Well, I am/was 32 when I was diagnosed with my tumor. My tumor was the same size 6mm x 4mm, however, I did not have the hearing loss that your son is experiencing. I woke up with the room spinning. I, too, received different opinions from different doctors, the same as your son. One doctor stated that it was too small to do that kind of a surgery, and that radiation was the way to go. Another doctor stated that I was too young to have the radiation and to deal with the tumor for the rest of my life, that I should just have it removed. Yet a third doctor finally told me that I would only be rid of the vertigo if I had the surgery, so that was the way that I went. Unfortunately, to my surprise, I woke up completely deaf in the right ear, and part of the tumor had to be left in to save my facial nerve. But, on the lighter side, after the first 4 days post-op the dizzy spells were gone.
It took me 6 1/2 weeks before I went back to work full time. During that recovery phase, I did work with a physical therapist to work on my balance, but I had balance/dizzy issues from the very beginning, as opposed to the hearing loss. I went three months later for the implant for the bone anchored hearing aide, and my 3 month healing time for that is almost over!! The Monday after Thanksgiving, I go to get the processor hooked up and turned on, so I am pretty excited about the thought of having some kind of hearing on that side again. I do well with one on one conversations with the SSD, however, sometimes restaurants and group gatherings are a little difficult, so I am hoping that gets better.
It is a very difficult decision to make about which treatment to choose, because there are adverse effects (complications) to each option.
Good luck to you and your son,
Tonya
