My Stapedectomy report - Hearing Disorders Message Board

Andy_01 · 01-05-2007, 08:50 AM

As promised, I am here to report on the stapedectomy for my right ear.

I arrived at the Outpatient center at 5:30 AM on Thursday, Jan 4th 2007.
Before surgery, I was brought to the OR prep area at 7:30 AM and was given an intraveneous "cocktail" to relax me.
I was then wheeled into the OR and was out, without any memory or warning.
I awoke in the recovery room.

The first few hours after the surgery were just terrible. I was so dizzy and nauseous that I threw up several times. I felt drugged and uncomfortable.
None of the 4 aniti nauseal medications that were tried, seemed to do a thing for me. The room was spinning and there was nothing to be done except tough it out, pray a lot, and hope it went away soon.

If you were to ask me if I regretted having the operation done during that time, I would have told you YES!

After several hours, the nausea began to dissipate. Although, the slightest movement would cause severe dizzyness. There was some mild to moderate pain in my ear, and some ear ringing, but nothing untolerable as far as that goes.

Around 12 hours later, I felt much better and was able to drink some broth without feeling sick. I had to move very slowly to avoid dizzyness.

From my understanding, most people go home the same day, unless they have extreme problems. I thought I was one of those people, but as I said, I started to feel much better.
When I spoke to the doctor that evening, he told me that my reaction - as far as throwing up - was typical, and as long as I was being discharged the same day, I am considered one of the "good" reactions.

Typical? I can't recall reading about severe nausea like what I experienced.

Anyhow, I was glad to go home, and now the next morning, I removed the bandages on my ear as directed, and replaced the cotton ball in my ear.

I can't hear anything in my right ear, so I am surprised that some have reported hearing so soon. Maybe some doctors don't pack the ear the same way, I'm not sure.

Anyhow, I feel much better. Hey, compared to how I felt after the operation, I'm on top of the world right now

I'll add more if there is anything new to report.

CAB1 · 01-11-2007, 02:07 PM

Hey Andy,

I'm just a couple weeks behind you. I'm having my stapedectomy on January 16th, 2007 and i'm scared:

.

I have read hundreds of articles, posts, etc and all of them say that it takes anywhere from 2 weeks for 6 months for your hearing to stabilize after surgery and all the strange side effects to go away. Waiting this long for surgery (14 years) and then having to wait several more months after surgery to see if it helped or not is really going to be hard. But, I'm like most people who made the decision to go ahead with it because in my case, my hearing can ONLY improve.

I hope you are doing well and am really interested in hearing your progress. I'll keep ya posted on my progress also.

Andy_01 · 01-12-2007, 11:03 AM

Hi CAB,
It's been 8 days and I have had mild pain that would come and go, along with frequent ear ringing. The first few days I felt no pain, and then suddenly it started.
I was told this is normal to have it come and go like this.
As far as dizzyness, If I don't move too quickly I'm fine, otherwise I feel slightly dizzy, but it doesn't last and is not too bad.
I was driving short distances myself after about 4 days and I returned to work after 1 week.

I have started to hear some things. Like certain higher frequencies are starting to be picked up in my right ear, and they sound like a very high frequency version of what I hear in my left ear. So at these frequencies, it sounds like a strange stereo.
Otherwise not much is coming through in the right ear.

I was very nervous before the surgery. Mostly at the idea of being put under.
But it was so quick, I was told it took about 40 minutes.
I am starting to feel very good about this and am looking forward to having the packing taken out in 3 weeks and ultimately to have my hearing back again

Please update me on your progress, and try not to worry. Keep reminding yourself "This is just a simple outpatient procedure, it's not a heart transplant".

CAB1 · 01-12-2007, 02:30 PM

Hi Andy,

I'm glad your recovery seems to be going well.

Up, around and driving on day 4, that is awesome!! And hearing anything at this point, even if it sounds like a strange stereo is great.

Are you having any trouble being back at work?

Was/is your sense of taste affected?

Short story for ya....

I was reading posts from several people and I found one that I thought you might relate to.

There was a man who had his stapedectomy. A few weeks later he was walking out of the doc's office onto a busy street. There were the sounds of the hustle and bustle of people and traffic. He said he heard it all loud and clear. He was waiting to cross the street and was standing beside a street vendor with a cart cooking hotdogs. He said he could HEAR the SIZZLE of the hot dogs cooking and that he just sat down on the curb and cried tears of joy at being able to hear something he's never heard before.

That man, whoever he was, is the one that gave me the courage to decide to have my ears done.

One day, I want to hear hotdogs sizzle and I hope you will be able to too.

Update to follow.

GL

Andy_01 · 01-13-2007, 05:50 PM

I had a slight metallic taste the first day or two, but barely noticeable.
I was a little dizzy my first day back at work because I had to climb some stairs. I just had to slow down a little.

The sound of sizzling hotdogs huh? That's a wonderful story.
The things that sound beautiful that are taken for granted, right?

I hope we both become success stories.
I am eagar to read of your experience and progress to see if it is similar to mine.

You mentioned that you are having your "ears" done, so I assume you will be having one done at a time with many months between operations.

Andy