Hi Steve1980,

Welcome to Cancer Chat. I'm sorry to read of what you have been through recently.

Unfortunately I'm not sure of the answer to your question. Ideally this would be best discussed with your doctor, particularly if you have an appointment coming up.

Otherwise, if it's helpful, you can give our nurses a call to see if they can advise. You can reach them on  0808 800 4040 - Monday-Friday, 9-5.

Wishing you all the best,

Ben
Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Steve, 

Your post caught my eye, because as an ex nurse, we dealt with these in one of the places I worked. I am on here, not as a weirdo, but husband in the Oesophageal club.

Now, it was a long time ago, but as far as I remember Acoustic Neroma's are benign. They can be big bugg**rs though. As I remember they used to be removed successfully. A friend of my husbands wife had a big boy, but because of where it was, it was not a good idea to remove it, so they nuked it with radiotherapy. As a result , it is pretty certain that it won't grow again in her 'natural'lifetime- that made me smile- what is a 'natural lifetime' 80 yr + I suspect. But, if, by some miraculous twist of fate it did regrow , then they would nuke it again.

As for rate of growth and what affects it, I think the short answer would be 'who knows' , either way you are where you are. I sometimes think it is just luck of the draw, nothing you did or did not do would likely have made any difference. Ask your medical team, they might be able to shed some light on it.

What treatment have you been offered.

Hi Ben, 

Thanks for your reply. I have no idea when I will see a specialist. I had a referral made Friday last week sent electronically. Today I've found out the person it was sent to is on holiday and also is not the right person for the referral. I now await to hear from someone to make an appointment to discuss next steps.

For something that's classed as a large posing life threatening complications should it grow into one part of the brain, it's not great to be left in the dark and having to chase some clerical mistakes being made.

Kind Regards

Steve

Hi Steve,

My dad, At 51, had an acoustic neuroma diagnosed when he started going dead in one ear. He was seen by a neurologist and underwent an op to remove it. That was 34 years ago and he's still fit and healthy.

They are benign but can cause a big problem when they grow larger so they must be removed. Hopefully you will get an appointment sorted with a consultant quickly. Good luck,

Angie