VIC Reeves has a non-removable tumour in his head which has left him permanently deaf in one ear – persuading him to ditch his stereo albums.
The comedian said he has to have regular MRI scans to check the growth, which means he can’t tell where cars are coming from when he partially hears them approaching.
The star of the Vic and Bob comedy duo 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.
“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.”
He said the deafness in the ear affects his hobby of bird watching, and has also ruined his ability to enjoy music.
Vic, a keen musician who has had a number one hit with Dizzy and a number three with a re-working of The Monkees’ I’m a Believer, decided to get rid of his stereo record collection because the albums had different sounds coming out from each side, so he couldn’t appreciate them any more.
He particularly rued how electric guitar solos – like Jimi Hendrix’s on ‘If 6 was 9’ – and drum solos that changed from the bass to treble side would now be lost on him.
He added: “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!”
Vic, 62, whose real name is Jim Moir, 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.”
He told Adam Buxton on his podcast how he hates having to have his MRI scans.
“The last time they put me in one I said ‘get me out of here quick’,” he said. “I just couldn’t do it, so I ended up having to pay for it, but they got my head which is all they wanted.”
A vestibular schwannoma usually grows slowly over many years.
Acoustic neuromas grow on the nerve used for hearing and balance, which as well as causing hearing loss, can result in unsteadiness and a sensation of moving or spinning.
They tend to affect adults aged 30 to 60 and usually have no obvious cause, although a small number of cases are a result of a genetic condition.
They can become serious if they grow large and lead to a life-threatening build-up of fluid on the brain, blurred or double vision, pain or weakness down one side of the face, and problems with limb co-ordination.
If they become dangerously large, surgery can be required – but it carries risks.
