March 25th, 2009 = Dr. Hart tells me about a tumor in my head!

The last four days felt like four months. I'm about to find out what 'something' in an MRI is! Well, as Dr. Hart entered the room, I gave him the best fake smile I could muster. He showed me the MRI on his laptop and showed what he called a 'growth' on my hearing nerve. I asked him what the growth was, and he said, "It's a benign tumor". I said, "Whoa, what does benign mean?" He explained that it's not cancerous, and that it's extremely rare that people die from this. I have no idea what he said next. I don't remember if he talked for 2 minutes, or 2 hours. My brain stopped, and I had no idea what to say, think, or anything. I just had no idea what having a tumor in my head meant.
At the end of him talking and me not listening, he asked if I had any questions. I asked him, "What if I say, 'surgery is too scary, I'm not doing it'". He said since it is close to 3cm around, and at my young age(25) it is most likely a fast growing tumor. 'Normal' growth is 1-2mm each year. If I just let it go, my hearing will get worse, and since the tumor is already touching my brain, I would eventually die from this. Before death, I would have facial twitching, facial paralysis, headaches, nausea, and the list goes on and on. Dr. Hart said it is rare that someone my age gets a tumor this size. But the upside is that a 25 year old would recover surgery better than a 50 year old.
Dr. Hart then referred me to the only doctor in West Michigan who performs this type of surgery. So, it was back to the waiting game to learn more information about my brain tumor...