The Beginning of My Journey with Acoustic Neuroma

My name is Christiania. I am 29 years old and I have Acoustic Neuroma. I am a mother and and wife. I am scared. 

On April 1, 2016 I found was informed that after a recent MRI scan and mass was located on the eight cranial nerve leading from the brain to the inner ear.  Its funny to think about how my life took a turn on a day that is meant to be a day of jokes and pranks. I remember asking the Dr. if she was joking with me, when in the back of my mind I knew she wasn't. Looking back on the beginning of all this is hard to fathom that all this started because of what i thought was a simple Ear infection. 


Since then with the help of my health insurance company and Google, I was able to locate a Dr. in Tampa who not only takes my insurance but is the best of the best when it comes to dealing with Acoustic Neuroma . He has done over 600 surgeries and on this and I'm looking forward to him doing mine (Even though the prospect of surgery scares shit out of me). Anyways enough with the heavy for now. Lets get things rolling with some important points about Acoustic Neuroma.

Acoustic Neuroma Important Points:

• An acoustic neuroma, also called a vestibular schwannoma, is a rare benign tumor of the balance and hearing nerves. 95% of acoustic neuroma (AN) are unilateral (occur on one side).
• Acoustic neuromas do not metastasize (spread) to other parts of the brain or body.
• According to oxfordjournals.org, It is estimated that the instances of acoustic neuroma are 3.5 in every 100,000 and more than 5,000 diagnosed annually in the US, accounting for approximately 7.5% of brain tumors.
• AN’s are usually slow growing; however, growth rates do vary.
• Initial symptoms include single-sided hearing loss, balance disturbances or vertigo, tinnitus, and a feeling of fullness in the ear
• If an acoustic tumor becomes large it may push on the surface of the brainstem but not really grow into brain tissue.
• Continued tumor growth that goes untreated may threaten neurological function and even life.
• The treatment options are observation, surgical removal or radiation. *

*information provided by: https://www.anausa.org/overview/what-is-acoustic-neuroma#important-points-to-know-about-an-acoustic-neuroma

You see it sounds more scary then it actually is. Here's what I'm dealing with personally: I have non-stop constant ringing in my left ear, I've lost some of my hearing, what sound i do hear is distorted and makes everything sound like its under water, I have constant headaches, I get extremely dizzy, and recently I begun to feel the left side of my face tingling every so often.  One odd thing about all of this is that I never even saw it coming, of course I realize that most people don't; I just never saw myself in this situation. 

Since my Diagnosis however I have come to find an amazing community of support through others who have been where i am at or people who are taking the same journey that I am. I have been filled with so much hope. I am going to be honest, I am scared. What scares me the most is the prospect of surgery, there are so many "What If?" scenarios that its hard to not cycle through them. Just the fact that I have now started to get my affairs in order in case the worst should happen least my family be burdened. I am a Mother of a beautiful 4yr old daughter and the idea that something could go wrong makes me an emotional basket case. That Being said I know within my heart of hearts that things will be fine because I have God in my Corner and he's watching over me.  

On June 20th I have an appointment in Tampa to have 3 hour hearing test done and then a Dr.'s appointment afterwards. I hoping I get and update and find out when I am to have Surgery to have the tumor removed. I will try to keep you all updated as much as possible, I do work so i may not be able to update as often as i would like but I will try. 

Thanks for reading and sharing in this journey with me. 

Love 

Christiania