Vic Reeves has candidly revealed he is ‘living with deafness’ after doctors discovered a tumour is growing on his brain and has cut off all hearing in one of his ears.
The 62-year-old comedy star has been diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma – also known as acoustic neuroma, which is a non-cancerous brain tumour.
The NHS explains that acoustic neuromas “grow on the nerve used for hearing and balance, which can cause problems such as hearing loss and unsteadiness.”
They can become dangerous if they grow to a large size – with Vic saying doctors are now monitoring his tumour to track it’s size, requiring regular trips for MRI scans.
And he says he has now been robbed of all hearing in one ear, prompting him to throw out all his favourite old LPs.
Opening up about his health battle on The Adam Buxton Podcast, Vic said: "I've got a vestibular schwannoma - it's a tumour in my head.
"I've gone completely deaf, 100 per cent deaf, in the left ear, and it will never come back. It's dead - absolutely completely gone.
"It's like the size of a grape so they just have to keep an eye on it.”
The comedian went on to explain that the growth is fortunately not at risk of being deadly, and he’s being advised on treatment.
He said: “It's benign. They can't remove it - they can shrink it or they can leave it and keep an eye on it, and that's what they're doing.
"The eardrum and your brain, there's a nerve and that takes all the information from your ear to your brain and the tumour is right in between the nerve, so it's gone ping and snapped it and you can't reattach nerves."
Describing how the illness has affected his life, the Shooting Stars legend said: "I had to throw away all me stereo LPs.
"I'm living with deafness. Can you imagine a life without stereo records - no more will I hear Jimi Hendrix, well the producer. On If 6 was 9 he goes all over the place.
"I thought it was great stereo when it first happened. All I've got left is Frank Ifield and mono!"
He continued: "Because I like going out bird watching I never know where the birds are because I can hear them, but I don't know what direction they're in.
"If an aeroplane flies over or a car approaches, I don't know where it is."
While the cause of vestibular schwannoma is unknown, some cases are caused by a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) – itself a condition which causes tumours to grow along the nervous system.
Acoustic neuromas – which tend to affect adults aged 30 to 60 – can be treated via brain surgery if doctors feel the lump is booming too large, or can be treated via stereotactic radiosurgery, which helps stop the growth getting bigger.
