Finally had two appointments with different specialist this week to develop a game plan for dealing with my Acoustic Neuroma brain tumor. Good news is since the brain tumor was (accidentally) found early, it is still small enough that they won't have to do the full brain surgery as there are other options that can definitely be done before that is necessary. Bad news is that I essentially have three options and I have about 4 months to decide, which might drive me crazy... er... crazier.
I'm holding a public vote on which option to take, so any feedback is appreciated. I feel like I'm trying to solve some weird math word problem and the more perspectives the better.
1. Gammaknife radiation surgery: they attach a device directly to your head for a few hours while you have an MRI to get the tumors exact location and then they attach you to a fancy machine which shoots gamma radiation directly at the tumor. This option should essentially kill the tumor and it'll just stay where it is. Based on the size and positioning, I'll lose the hearing in my right ear over the course of about 10 years. This option shouldn't impact my facial nerve, but my balance could get a little bit messed up. Not too much info on long range success, so I'd need to get periodic MRIs to make sure it doesn't come back to life. If it does, then I'd be moving to option 2 at that time unless there is some unpredictable medical advancement that is a better option.
I'm really excited about this option because I'm fairly certain if there is an actual way to get super powers it is by having a large amount of gamma radiation shot directly into your brain.
2. Wait and get regular MRIs to keep track of it. If it starts to grow into other areas and causing more symptoms or my hearing gets to the point where it is no longer functional in my right ear, then take it out via "through the ear" surgery where they literally go through your ear to get it out. This type of surgery 100% ruins the hearing in that ear immediately, but it doesn't impact anything else. Balance and facial nerve would be fine. Very short surgery recovery. Odds that the tumor grows again is essentially none, so you just get MRIs periodically to make sure.
The downside is you never really know when you'd hit this option, the time table is unknowable, and in the mean time there is a chance other symptoms could occur other than my current slight hearing issue. So essentially until you'd do the "through the ear" surgery, my hearing will definitely progressively get worse in my right ear and if you wait too long you could end up having balance issues and/or facial paralysis. Also, definitely no super powers.
3. Have them to do the "through the ear" surgery in like April 2023. I have another MRI in mid-March to try to get a handle on the growth rate, which is why I've got four months to think this through. This option essentially sacrifices the rest of what time I have left with hearing in my right ear to get rid of the tumor before anything else could be impacted. No super powers, but also no trying to time the surgery right to ensure there are no other impacts via frequent MRIs. Only periodic MRIs to make sure it doesn't grow back.
There are a bunch of pros and cons for each of the three options, but it is pretty much set in stone that at some point I will I lose hearing in my right ear*, so given the situation, it could hardly go better.
Between the two different doctors and talking through the three options already with some people today, I think I'm looking at 3>2>1. I started looking at the three options with the mindset of "You have a brain tumor and there is a price to pay for having that brain tumor. Like a sacrifice must be made, so what is the least bad sacrifice?" and I ended up with:
1 = At most 10 more years of hearing + possible permanent balance issue + periodic MRIs to see if it is coming back to life + possible additional actions if it does come back + possible super powers
2 = Regular MRIs to determine growth + gradual loss of hearing and immediate loss of hearing in right ear at time of surgery + possible balance issues/facial paralysis + anxiety about the situation until it is done + periodic MRIs to make sure it stays gone - possible super powers
3 = Immediate loss of hearing in right ear + periodic MRIs to make sure it stays gone - possible super powers
Personally I think option 3 only exists because I definitely need to be in control of things way too much. There are a lot of "possible" impacts in 1 and 2. #3 gives me control over what happens and when, but seems like a rash decision to make when option 1 could be the tumor goes away and you have about 10 more years of functional hearing (which would put me into my mid-late 40s) and option 2 is you could get 2, 3, 4, 10, 15, etc... more years of functional hearing before losing it. Technically, none of the "bad" stuff has to happen in those scenarios, but I feel like it comes down to trading off the immediate loss of hearing in my right ear to ensure none of the "bad" stuff can happen.
*All types of hearing loss are like gone, gone. The cochlear nerve is basically going to be destroyed so a hearing aid or cochlear implant won't help as there isn't anything left to receive stimulation.
