My husband had symptoms for 30 years before doctors discovered a brain tumor

They found a large mass in my brain. That was the text my husband Stephen sent from the hospital. I kept reading it again, hoping I had gotten it wrong, but I didn’t. He had been complaining of dizziness for weeks, and said it was getting worse. He also lost hearing in one ear. He had stated that he would go to the emergency room if the dizziness did not improve by morning. This wasn’t the first (or second or third) time he’d been to the hospital for dizziness, so I wasn’t expecting much from it.

And every time he went there were no real answers. Some medical staff blamed stress or anxiety for the dizziness. A few primary care doctors, even the otolaryngologist, did not order any additional tests. They ignored his symptoms every time – for decades. This was the first time we got a real answer, and we were shocked. Sometimes, when you’re burning with the belief that your symptoms have no real cause, you start to believe it.

It can be difficult to get an accurate diagnosis for common symptoms, which are often benign. “The problem is that (dizziness and uneven hearing loss) are so common that doctors are sometimes too quick to attribute it to anxiety or stress, Hamid JalilianMD, professor of otolaryngology, neurosurgery, and biomedical engineering at UCLA, tells SELF. “Although doctors are very good at treating syncope, they can get it wrong when it comes to asymmetric hearing loss or chronic vertigo,” he says. “That’s why, if you feel like something is wrong but feel rejected, one of the best things you can do is get counseling with a professional.”

My husband had surgery to remove as much of the 4cm tumor as possible. But, as Dr. Jalilian points out, the size of the tumor can increase the risks of surgery. “The main issue we are concerned with in surgery is preserving vital functions such as the nerve that controls facial movement or hearing,” he says. “Large tumors can increase surgical complexity.” Unfortunately, due to his large size, that surgery resulted in life-changing results: paralysis on the left side of his face and throat.

Laboratory analysis confirmed some good news, though: It wasn’t cancer. It was an acoustic neuroma — a type of “tumor that is usually slow-growing and develops from the balance and hearing nerves that supply the inner ear,” according to the researchers. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.