If surgeons aren't advocating surgery, that speaks volumes. Based on what you've said about your pilocytic astrocytoma, it sounds as if you're asymptomatic. For what it's worth, I'm a parent of a teen who has had dozens of surgeries by several neurosurgeons related to Spina Bifida, Hydrocephalus, and his Chiari Malformation. As such, if you opted to have the surgery, I wouldn't stress about bad outcomes. I would ask how and why they say that the tumor could be related to your stutter. I'd push them to explain their answers on that so you better understand. Doctors are consultants. You are the boss. You pay them a lot of money for their expertise. If you don't understand something, you need to push them for answers. I would consider if my stutter ebbs and flows. Does your fluency vary? Are there good periods and worse? If you're seeing highs and lows with your fluency, I would *guess* that the tumor isn't a factor.