Robin, very sorry to hear of your situation. In May 2018, at age 67, after having 3 seizures during the preceding 6 months, I was diagnosed with a 6 cm meningioma in my right forehead area. It was described as being the size of a tangerine! I was immediately referred to a neurosurgeon and not offered the “wait and see” option. I was very fortunate to not have had other symptoms, which I was told could be significant and some could be possibly be irreversible. Surgery was scheduled for and occurred in August 2018 at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland, OR. While everyone is different, based on my experience, I would not dread the craniotomy surgery if I had to do it again. I had an excellent surgical team, an experienced neurosurgeon, and terrific post surgery care, things I would research a lot if I had to do it again. I should think that the Mayo Clinic would be a great choice, as was OHSU for me. Having the surgery was helpful to me to get that thing out of my head and not have to worry about it anymore, although unfortunately, a small part that was closely associated with my right optical nerve, was left in place so as to not compromise vision in that eye, a decision by the surgical team for which I am grateful. That has placed me into a “wait and see” situation to see if the remnant stars growing again. Successive MRI’s since surgery have shown it to be stable, which is great. My thought for you is, if the surgery becomes recommended, be strong, do your research in choosing your surgeon and hospital facility, and get it done. I understand the fears you face, as I faced them, too, but it could be worse by not doing anything when/if your doctors recommend removal. I wish you the very best.

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