Re: Not happy about this C-Toma ***t

[Guest guest]

Greg,

Right now my wife and I are enjoying the Planet of the Apes movies that

are continuously running on TV, so yes, hopefully hearing will be

maintained. Personally I won't swim in the ocean again (but after six

years in the Navy ... I don't even want to see that lousy ocean again

.... well, maybe from the beach). My doctor told me that I should be

fine with swimming ... but I just don't want to.

I've had the surgery on both ears and on the right one twice. All were

canal wall up. In the right ear, all the hearing bones were wiped out.

The doctor replaced them with artificial ones and the hearing in that

ear is pretty darn good ... for me. Before the surgery I couldn't hear

much of anything in that ear. My left ear ... well, the doctor reshaped

the hearing bones (he was watching it and caught the cholesteatoma

early). After the surgery though ... my hearing has been disappointing

in the left ear.

You simply can't opt out of the surgery. The possibility of meningitis

is just too serious. Hang in there and get the surgery over with. For

me the surgery was surprisingly painless. I only had minor pain with

the bandage for the first 24 hours. There are a lot variations in the

surgery, so pain, vertigo, etc. can all vary.

All the best,

Matt

gregmatty wrote:

>

> As you can tell my the subject line I am not real thrilled to hear I

> have a cholesteatoma in my

> right ear. I know enough about the surgery to make me NOT want to do

> it. I also don't want

> meningitis or facial paralysis so I probably should do it. I am

> especially not enthused to learn

> that hearing is of SECONDARY importance. I really like movies and

> music and if I suffer

> serious hearing loss in my right ear, I won't be happy. Will I ever

> swim in the ocean again or

> ride my jet ski?

>

> For those who have had this done, did your canal wall have to come

> down? Did they remove

> a bone during surgery? Did hearing come back after surgery?

>

> I was born with a cleft pallete, praise Jesus for that shit, and have

> had nothing but trouble

> with my ears. I am not thrilled at more time in the hospital and the

> potential for permanent

> complications, but if most people make a good recovery, maybe I'll go

> through with it.

>

> Greg

>

>

--

[Guest guest]

Clearly, every case is different, but here's mine.

I had a large Cholesteatoma removed from my left ear, and it had

consumed all of the bones in that ear, so they had to be removed.

During this major surgery, I had a prosthesis put in, in place of the

inner ear bones they removed. The hearing in my left ear is actually

pretty good.

I have recently had a small cholesteatoma diagnosed in my right ear,

and am hopeful that since I am catching it early enough that inner

ear bone removal will not be necessary. I'll have to have my surgery

later this month, so I can empathise with your situation.

As for swimming, well, given that water in the ear can lead to ear

infections, I just won't risk it myself, and I wear earplugs when I

shower to keep my inner ear dry. I suppose you could swim with ear

plugs if sea swimming is really that important to you, but in my case

I just found other activities to focus on. I used to love swimming,

but now I go skiing, hiking and rock climbing instead. If you're a

scuba diver or a sky diver, realistically you`ll probably need to

give those up. Sure you can swim or jump out of a plane, but you

would have to ask yourself, " Is it worth the risk? " .

The number one piece of advice I can offer to you though is that the

quality of your surgeon is key. In my experience, you should only

look at a doctor who has the title, " Neuro-Otologist " and even then,

you want to find someone who is at the top of that particular field.

I'll bet you there will be a couple of world class Neuro-Otologist's

in Washington state.

Good luck with your surgery, and try and keep your chin up and remain

positive.

>

> As you can tell my the subject line I am not real thrilled to hear

I have a cholesteatoma in my

> right ear. I know enough about the surgery to make me NOT want to

do it. I also don't want

> meningitis or facial paralysis so I probably should do it. I am

especially not enthused to learn

> that hearing is of SECONDARY importance. I really like movies and

music and if I suffer

> serious hearing loss in my right ear, I won't be happy. Will I

ever swim in the ocean again or

> ride my jet ski?

>

> For those who have had this done, did your canal wall have to come

down? Did they remove

> a bone during surgery? Did hearing come back after surgery?

>

> I was born with a cleft pallete, praise Jesus for that shit, and

have had nothing but trouble

> with my ears. I am not thrilled at more time in the hospital and

the potential for permanent

> complications, but if most people make a good recovery, maybe I'll

go through with it.

>

> Greg

>