Welcome to the list. You are doing the right thing by going out and trying
to find information before making a commitment to a treatment. As you may
know, there is no *best* way to treat it. They all can have unanticipated
consequences--even waiting and watching. It ends up being an individual
decision.
After all my reading, I learned that the treatment choice depends on the
size of the tumor, its location, and your hearing level mostly. It took me
until September (and I was diagnosed in May2001 and my treatment was at
the end of November2001) to know what I really wanted to do and where to go.
I considered each treatment option seriously and oftentimes felt overwhelmed
with all of the information.
My right sided growth was 1.5 cm. After reflecting over my experience, I
want to *emphasize* one thing: the experience, expertise and passion of the
doctor you select for treatment means everything no matter which treatment.
Most agree that they need experience with more than 100 cases.
Through my reading, I also learned about potential side effects and about
the many excellent facilities throughout the country. One of the first
decisions I made was that this was unique enough of a condition that it
warranted going where the expertise works. Even though I am in Chicago and there are several excellent hospitals, not all were equal relative to treating AN's.
Then it dawned on me that I didn't know how listserv member's posts and the
side effects they were experiencing fit into the larger picture.How frequent
were side effects related to the various treatments? Could I generalize
from the qualitative data?
I looked for patterns in the posts on the listserv related to
treatments and doctors. We as individuals can provide our own experience.
I also put myself through some questions that helped me make my decision. They are included
under the heading "One Size does not Fit All"
http://www.anworld.com/pretreat/ .
One size does not fit all --A guide through the Acoustic Neuroma decision-making process
Kindest Regards,
Kate
