Re: New--Cholesteatoma vs. Keratoma? Help, please!

[Guest guest]

Trust your instincts! Do not wait on this! As you already know, cholesteatoma is sneaky! If you suspect it's growing behind his eardrum, you could be right (ctoma likes to hide). I would seek another opinion and insist on a ct-scan.

As a parent of a child who has had numerous surgeries for cholesteatoma since he was 3, I sympathize with you. Please keep me posted.

God bless you,

Terri (mother of Troy, age 8)

-----Original Message-----From: krysjacobs [mailto:bk_jacobs@...]Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 7:58 PMcholesteatoma Subject: New--Cholesteatoma vs. Keratoma? Help, please!My son is now 4, in 6/2001 he had what we were told at the time was a cholesteatoma removed from the outside of his eardrum. It looked like a "pearl" on the eardrum. They never went behind his eardrum. My son has had pain several times in that ear since & has some hearing loss in that ear & what they call "significant negative pressure" in both ears. He was in tears last night over the pain, when I used a small flashlight to look in his ear, it was very red around on the skin around his eardrum. I called the Pediatric ENT today that did the surgery & talked to his nurse, I asked for a CT scan to look behind his eardrum. They refused & said it was a keratoma, not a cholesteatoma (they said the diagnosis was changed after surgery), and said he does not need to be seen--if he has an ear infection they are comfortable with him seeing the pediatrician(it takes several weeks to get an appt with the pediatric ENT).When I checked the internet on the difference between a cholesteatoma & a keratoma, usually it said "cholesteatoma AKA keratoma."I am scared that he may have another one growing in there. I have always been bothered since the surgery that there may have been something behind the eardrum. The doctor seems comfortable with seeing him in 4 months & reevaluating his hearing then.Does anyone know what the difference is between these two? And, should I be comfortable with not having it looked at before March 2003?

[Guest guest]

Does anyone know what the difference is between these two? And, should I be comfortable with not having it looked at before March 2003?

Hello

What's in a name? Though I believe 'keratoma' is a generic term for a hard skin growth anywhere on the body (a callus, a wart etc.). Usually 'cholesteatoma' is soft tissue; an accumulation of skin debris within a sac moslty inside the middle ear. But the definitions are never binding. What really matters is if son is having ear trouble whatever the cause, he needs to be treated as soon as possible.

Best wishes

Phil

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I agree with Phil, if your son's ear is bothering him - his doctor should take a look. How can they tell anything over the phone? Don't wait until March, too much can go wrong between now and then.

Welcome to the group!

Philip <psmorris@...> wrote:

Does anyone know what the difference is between these two? And, should I be comfortable with not having it looked at before March 2003?

Hello

What's in a name? Though I believe 'keratoma' is a generic term for a hard skin growth anywhere on the body (a callus, a wart etc.). Usually 'cholesteatoma' is soft tissue; an accumulation of skin debris within a sac moslty inside the middle ear. But the definitions are never binding. What really matters is if son is having ear trouble whatever the cause, he needs to be treated as soon as possible.

Best wishes

Phil