Dr. House.....er, I mean Dr. Fayad

I spoke with Dr. Fayad from the internationally infamous House Ear Institute located in California, he went over my scans and test results and agreed with the watch and wait for 6 months then a follow up MRI. We talked about the tumor's location and he said it was unfortunate it appeared to be on the cochlear nerve because if it was growing in the location where 99% of them normally grow, this would be the perfect time to do surgery and I would save my hearing and i minimal negative effects. I always wanted to be unique but like they say "be careful what you wish for."

Dr. Fayad and his staff have been absolutely amazing, he is consulting on my case for FREE and even gave me his cell phone number if I have any questions. My doctor here was impressed I had him consulting on my case as well and stated there is a lot of misinformation out there but I was getting good information from him.

Finally....a little relief!

So the medical bills have begun to roll in. There are seven of them totaling an amount I can't afford so I have been calling them to ask if the doctor will charge less and if not then I will be sending $20 a month. The first company said they would reduce the bill but it had to be paid in full, my response was depending on how much this may be a great deal, the representative excitedly said they could reduce it by 7%.....seriously, 7% percent! The next one said they couldn't adjust anything. The next doctor I called was my ENT that did several scans because of my symptoms but thought it was sinus infections, unfortunately the scans were very expensive and led to nothing. I called him and told him my diagnosis which he knew what an acoustic neuroma was as he had diagnosed them before then referred them to specialists. He had encouraging words and understood that my medical bills will get very expensive so he deducted ALOT from his bill and I was able to pay him in full. I have four more doctors to call, getting ahold of their billing department has almost required an act of Congress. But whatever question I don't ask, the answer will always be "No", so I will call them and hope they reduce it.

I still have the dizziness and have found some days are worse than others, but it is still managable. The ringing in my ear is sporadic and tolerable.

I have many things going on now so my time is easily occupied. I have several exciting things going on at work, not to mention the amazing people I work with. Plus, Jeff retires in September which can not come soon enough.

Thanks for listen, much love.

Jenn