New Member's Story

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I wish I had known about this group last year when I had my Op. Oh

well, here I am now anyway.

Here's my story.

I had a tube put in my left ear at age 11. The tube was removed from

my drum manually by the surgeon in the doctors office because it had

failed to come out on it's own. This procedure resulted in a

permanent perforation in my ear drum, and many, many, MANY middle

ear infections. I am as a result, totally resistant to practically

all antibiotics. The last one effective I know about is cipro. I was

finally referred to a knowledgeable specialist, Dr. Les Garber in

Winnipeg MB. I seen him with complaints of infections, massive

excretions and often fingernail sized chunks of keratin. I was

diagnosed with a massive cholesteatoma. Surgery wasy booked until

that date, my ear was aggressively cleaned weekly to keep the canal

open enough to hear through. I was then at approximately 60% hearing

in that ear. The cleaning was manageable, but very uncomfortable and

unsettling. I would often go very white and dizzy from the vacuum in

my ear. I had the radical tympanic mastoidectomy on June 19, 2002.

The surgery was a snap. When I woke up, I had a bit of a sore jaw

and definately a sore ear, but nothing at all like i had imagined.

Within three hours of surgery, I was up and moving around the

hospital looking for something to eat. I dont think I took any

painkillers. I was released the next day. The stitches behind the

ear came out 10 days after and I was told by the doctor that things

looked very well. My ear drained for about 2 months, and I seen the

surgeon several times in the next three months. I see him now every

4-6 months. Apparently there was some dead skin and debris on my

last visit but Im told that I had a text book job done. Im very

thankful for that. My hearing now is considerably diminished since

the surgery, I approximate that I am likely down to around 30-40 %

of what it should be. I will have audiometric testing done on my

next visit and Im told that something can be done to correct my

hearing a little bit later on.

All in all, I am very happy with the results of the surgery. I knew

the hearing would be affected, but I have not had one single ear

infection in the last year. That is outstanding. Had I not had the

surgery, I would have had several. No pain. No excretions. NO

INFECTIONS!!! I only wish that I knew about this procedure a long

time ago.

Darren J.

Winnipeg MB