Hi, Carson -
I just answered your other post, but I'll give you my two cents worth on this thread also
Second opinions usually refer to treatment options since a MRI with contrast is generally all that is needed to confirm the existence of an acoustic neuroma.
The ANA highly encourages patients to seek treatment by doctors who have specific experience in treating ANs and by experience, they mean lots of it. The general concensus around the forum is 100% agreement with that recommendation - although there's been some debate about how many procedures constitutes "experience". So, first and foremost, you need to make sure you dad has a doctor(s) who has lots of experience in treating ANs.
Many AN patients get second opinions - lots get many more than that - but it seems to be a personal preference kind of thing. I totally agree that you need to find someone who has experience, but how many "somebodies" you find depends on you and your comfort level - or in this case, your father and his comfort level.
One thing to keep in mind is that some doctors may only treat ANs surgically and others may only treat them with radiation. These doctors tend to recommend the treatment that they personally perform. There are doctors who perform both types of treatment and IMO if your father didn't see one of them, he should. If he can't in IMO, he should see at least one doctor who regularly does AN surgery and at least one doctor who regularly does radiation.
I believe I read in your other post that your dad's AN is 2.5 cm which most likely gives him the option of radiation or surgery. While I chose surgery, it's not everyone's choice. You dad may decide that he'd rather have radiation; lots of AN patients make this decision. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that treatment choice is a personal choice and your dad should know all his options before making his decision.
I only met with one doctor (a neurotologist) prior to my decision to have surgery; he came highly recommended by my ENT. My neurotologist treats ANs with surgery and radiation, so I didn't need to consult with another doctor to see what my options were. My neurotologist had the skills, the experience that I felt he needed, and personally I liked the man - bottomline, I had a good gut feeling that he was the guy to treat my AN. I was confident in him and I was comfortable with him. I did originally have a little hesitation because I didn't think he had much of a sense of humor (a vital requirement of mine), but I decided it was irrelevant since I'd be asleep during my surgery
Basically, I decided I personally didn't need a second opinion, so I stopped at the first.
If I didn't like my neurotologist, didn't trust him, or if I felt he didn't have the experience necessary to treat my AN, I would have looked elsewhere. And in the end, he proved to have a much better sense of humor than I originally thought. Either that or he developed one specifically to help me get through my BAHA surgery with lots of laughter - which just reinforced that I made a great choice of docs
Jan
