Acoustic neuroma

Before February 2007, I had never heard of an acoustic neuroma, but now it's part of my everyday life. About five years or so, I started having a ringing in my right ear, along with some noticeable hearing loss. Initially, I figured I had just attended too many loud concerts (especially that David Lee Roth show in Glens Falls in the mid-80's), but eventually I had it checked. My doctor recommended seeing an audiologist, and she tested my hearing. The hearing in my right ear was poor enough for her to recommend a hearing aid -- which I did, but I was never satisfied with the results. After several months of that, I decided that I would live with my hearing loss, and the ringing.

Fast-forward a few years, and another checkup -- this time, my doctor recommended seeing an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) specialist. This doctor ordered a series of hearing tests, and a MRI. Lo and behold, the MRI showed a mass (acoustic neuroma) that was causing the problem. This led to meeting with a radiation specialist, Dr. Savage (no, not The Man Of Bronze). He explained to me that the mass compresses the hearing nerve, which causing the ringing and the hearing loss. It's not uncommon, and it's not malignant, but at my young age, it needs to be taken care of before it grows larger and causes other problems.

I basically had four options. The first three were: (1) Do nothing, (2) Have it surgically removed, (3) Endure a one-day blast of radiation. Option #1 was not an option, since letting it continue to grow (no matter how slowly) was dangerous. Option #2 was very dangerous - surgeries like these require expert skill, it would require several days in the hospital, and there's a chance that it could cause nerve damage. Option #3 was much less dangerous than #2, but it involves a whole day, it would require me to wear a helmet, and the high dose of radiation could easily affect the surrounding area -- again, I could damage that same hearing nerve, which means the growth would be stopped, but I would be deaf. Great choice.

The fourth option was to have "fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy". Basically, it's a much lower dose of radiation spread out over thirty treatments. The "target" is generated from using 3-D images from a CAT scan, which allows for a more precise beam, which results in minimal damage to the surrounding area. It would be every weekday (not including holidays) for about 10-15 minutes. It would require that I sit for a "mask" fitting, which is used to make sure that my head is in the same position for each treatment. The problem with this treatment is that St. Peter's Hospital did not have the machine that offered this solution. It's new technology, and they planned on having it in six months.

Next: My decision.