#45 Get Connected
In my last blog I shared some of the improvements in hearing aid technology. I might not have learned about all this if I hadn’t gone to a support group meeting.
In an earlier blog, I mentioned the national symposium meetings for AN patients. These meetings have been replaced by one-day meetings called ANA Patient Education Events. The next two meetings are:
- May 11, 2019 in Cincinati, Ohio hosted by the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute at UC Health.
- August 24, 2019 in Palo Alto, California hosted by Stanford University Medical Center, Departments of Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology.
Meeting with others who have an acoustic neuroma has multiple benefits. Learning from physicians and someone else’s experience can help solve problems. On the flip side, we can share our experiences and help others. This is rewarding – to know you have helped someone else on their acoustic journey. This has been referred to as “Pass it on.”
Perhaps you have never been to a support group and have no idea if it will work for your needs. The only way to find out is to give it a try. Are you wondering how to find a support group? Go to: https://www.anausa.org/programs/support-overview
Under “Community” is a state listing of support groups.
If a support group is not available or close enough to visit, this website contains a section of videos from various meetings: https://www.anausa.org/programs/support-groups/video-library
The ANAUSA.org website contains a wealth of other information:
- Treatment Options with explanations.
- A phone number provides you with a connection to a volunteer willing to talk about pre or post treatment situations. This can be especially helpful if you don’t know a single person with an acoustic neuroma. I can still remember fondly meeting the first person I ever knew with an AN. She had had surgery and was doing well. It gave me a good feeling: Well, she is doing just fine, I can, too.
- https://www.anausa.org/smf/ This is the link to the forums. Discussions include various issues surrounding acoustics: hearing, headaches, balance, facial, eyes, and cognitive. There are pre and post treatment sections. With each section, lots of questions are presented and answered. Terrific place to ask a question and get answers.
- Links to Facebook and YouTube. The videos on YouTube are almost information overload.
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Readers: Have you been to a support group meeting? Glad you went? Are you willing to share your experience?
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Guiding Father,
Thank you that we live in a time when we have access to others via the internet. Help us to find those that can help us the most. Guide us to help others who need information that we might have. Amen.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ