Alzi- I need ear help!

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Acoustic neuroma-- tell me all about it? My mom has one. I'm freaked out bc she is a breast cancer survivor and tumor is a scary word in our house. We are going to UPenn on Monday to meet a specialist but her ent said she would most likely get radiation.

alzi! Help!

[alzi]

Not cancer. So don't freak. It messes with hearing and balance. They typically only do something about it if it is large. Usually worst case is losing the hearing due to damaging the nerve while removing it.

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Hey, alzi, follow up-
The tumor is medium sized and is only affecting Mom's hearing for now. She wants it out as she has a history of breast cancer and just doesn't want stuff growing in her body, kwim?

So the doctor is happy to schedule her for surgery but it's WAY more involved than she was thinking it would be. I think she should ask about the radiation- he just thought she wanted it gone GONE, I think.

Thoughts about radiation vs removal?

Thanks so much and if you ever have an art history emergency, I'll hook you up

[alzi]

It is definitely a very involved surgery, unfortunately our hearing parts are in the brain but the good thing is that essentially her hearing should be the only thing that would be affected. I don't really have an opinion over surgery versus radiation, because most people that I have seen have not gotten the neuroma removed they just monitor it because the only thing that is affected is hearing.

I am always happy to help, I hope that your family is comfortable with the decision, and she will be fine don't worry