Irina -
first of all, it's very normal to be scared when you are diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma; we know exactly what you are going through. No one really thinks that they will have a tumor growing inside their inner ear canal - I know I certainly never expected something like that. I don't know how your AN was discovered, but if you were like me you probably just thought you had wax in your ear, that your doctor would remove it, and life would be back to normal. But my doctor saw nothing when he looked into my ear, so he sent me for an MRI that showed I had a tumor. Quite shocking
One of the good things about acoustic neuromas is that they are very rarely cancerous. Another good thing is that they typically grow very slowly, which gives patients time to decide on a treatment option. Depending on the size of our AN, you may have the option of watching & waiting, surgery, and/or radiation.
If you haven't already, I'd like to suggest you contact the ANA and ask them to send you some of their literature. It's very helpful in explaining what an acoustic neuroma is, what the treatment options are, and the side-effects of each treatment. The ANA also stresses that you need to find someone who has experience in treating acoustic neuromas and I couldn't agree more. On the first page of this website, there is a list of medical resources that might be helpful to you.
In addition, as K said, you can rely on the members of this forum to answer questions you may have and to support you in your AN journey.
It would help us to help you if you tell us the size of your AN and where you are located. There are AN patients from all over on this forum - USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, etc - and someone should be able to suggest a doctor in your area if that is something you are interested in.
Jan
