About hearing after Titanium TORP implant

[Guest guest]

I had my second look surgery a month ago and Dr. Luxford at House Ear

Clinic in Los Angeles found a regrowth of the cholesteatoma nine months

after the first surgery. The first cholesteatoma was quite large and

over the years with infections and pressure had destroyed most of the

hearing bones and caused mastoiditis, and the ear drum was not

salvageable. He made a new eardrum the first time that subsequently

developed two small holes which were repaired this time and he implanted

a titanium TORP. Happy to say that pain and discomfort were minimul

this time, I could eat as soon as I got home around six hours after

surgery started. The first time, I was more sleepy and had PONV and

could not eat solid food until the third day, but even then pain was

minimul. I lay the cause of the PONV on more invasive procedures that

were necessary and the length of time under anesthesia.

My only question now from those who have had TORP with reconstructed ear

drum; is how much of your hearing did you eventually regain? I know

that my case is the worst scenario but I am wondering if I can expect

better hearing than I had with the Cholesteatoma, which surprisingly

transmitted some sounds because of pressure on what was left of the

Stapes. I still have most of the packing in the ear canal which is

being dissolved by the ear drops and am wondering if the remaining

packing inside the middle ear hinders hearing at this point. I don't

know how long the middle ear packing takes to dissolve. I won't see the

doctor for another six weeks and will not have a hearing test at that

time according to his office.

For those of you who are going through ear drainage and hearing loss

with any kind of pain behind the ear, no matter how short term and

especially long term the problem is, my advice is run, don't walk to

the best Ear specialist you can find. I lost my hearing bones from not

being diagnosed soon enough by my primary care physician and the

incompetant ENT that she referred me to. I eventually paid out of

pocket to go to The House Ear Clinic and fortunately saw one of the best

doctors there is. If you don't have a good ear clinic available, go to

a university ear specialist: you have so much to lose by delaying. I

eventually changed insurance groups so the surgery was covered by my

HMO, a move that I learned about when my son-in-law did that to see a

good spine surgeon at UCLA.

Good luck to you all, I feel so sorry for the young children with this

problem, although I know that they are usually real troopers when it

comes to things like this.

[Guest guest]

Two years ago my c-toma was removed, part of my middle hearing bone was

affected and ear drum rebuilt. I'm now about 4 weeks out from my recent

surgery, which replaced the middle hearing bone with a titanium

prosthesis. The other bones were ok. My surgeon said it takes about 4

to 6 weeks for the packing in the middle ear to dissolve. He will do a

hearing test on me at 6 weeks. I think my hearing is changing. I have

several odd sensations that are bothersome, sounds seem to be pulsing,

especially loud noises or noisy cars or restaurants. However that seems

to be getting better. He said, at my checkup this week, that it will be

a while before we know what results I'll have. I am still somewhat

swollen in there. So, I'm in the same situation as you are, at this

point it is a waiting game to see how it worked. He also said that

sometimes the prosthesis has to be re-positioned if they aren't working

properly...I hope not in my case. Also, I was told the surgery I had

has an 80% success rate. I'm hopeful I'm in the 80%. Another person on

this board said her daughter has had best hearing results about 3 months

out from surgery. So, it may be different in every case. I hope you

have good results. Keep us posted.

Jan

> My only question now from those who have had TORP with reconstructed ear

> drum; is how much of your hearing did you eventually regain? I know

> that my case is the worst scenario but I am wondering if I can expect

> better hearing than I had with the Cholesteatoma, which surprisingly

> transmitted some sounds because of pressure on what was left of the

> Stapes. I still have most of the packing in the ear canal which is

> being dissolved by the ear drops and am wondering if the remaining

> packing inside the middle ear hinders hearing at this point. I don't

> know how long the middle ear packing takes to dissolve. I won't see the

> doctor for another six weeks and will not have a hearing test at that

> time according to his office.

[Guest guest]

My husband had a partial titanium replacement but he did not have any luck with it at all. His hearing was worse then before the surgery. He now uses hearing aids on both ears and is very happy with them.

Michele

http://www.snopes.com

http://www.truthorfiction.com

From: clarkdq@... <clarkdq@...>Subject: Re: About hearing after Titanium TORP implantcholesteatoma Date: Sunday, June 27, 2010, 6:39 PM

Two years ago my c-toma was removed, part of my middle hearing bone was affected and ear drum rebuilt. I'm now about 4 weeks out from my recent surgery, which replaced the middle hearing bone with a titanium prosthesis. The other bones were ok. My surgeon said it takes about 4 to 6 weeks for the packing in the middle ear to dissolve. He will do a hearing test on me at 6 weeks. I think my hearing is changing. I have several odd sensations that are bothersome, sounds seem to be pulsing, especially loud noises or noisy cars or restaurants. However that seems to be getting better. He said, at my checkup this week, that it will be a while before we know what results I'll have. I am still somewhat swollen in there. So, I'm in the same situation as you are, at this point it is a waiting game to see how it worked. He also said that sometimes the prosthesis has to be re-positioned if they aren't working

properly...I hope not in my case. Also, I was told the surgery I had has an 80% success rate. I'm hopeful I'm in the 80%. Another person on this board said her daughter has had best hearing results about 3 months out from surgery. So, it may be different in every case. I hope you have good results. Keep us posted.Jan> My only question now from those who have had TORP with reconstructed ear> drum; is how much of your hearing did you eventually regain? I know> that my case is the worst scenario but I am wondering if I can expect> better hearing than I had with the Cholesteatoma, which surprisingly> transmitted some sounds because of pressure on what was left of the> Stapes. I still have most of the packing in the ear canal which is> being dissolved by the ear drops and am wondering if the remaining> packing inside the middle ear hinders hearing at this point. I

don't> know how long the middle ear packing takes to dissolve. I won't see the> doctor for another six weeks and will not have a hearing test at that> time according to his office.