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Post by Ardbeg... innit on May 20, 2008 5:55:42 GMT -6
I will be off for the week after today. I am headed to Milwaukee. My wife has always had a hearing issue with her left ear, and we are off for her to have surgery to fix the problem.
After having a bunch of tests, the specialists determined that her auditory nerves are fine, but that the bones in the ear are not capable of transmitting the sound vibrations from the ear drum to the nerves.
What they are going to do, is go into her middle ear and, basically, file down the pivot points on the three ear bones so that they can move properly.
Truly amazing that they can work on that small of a scale. I suggested that I give a try with my Dremel, but she told me I dont have the right bit for my tool... sigh, I tried.
We drive to Milwaukee Wednesday, meet with the Surgeon for final consultation first thing Thursday morning, surgery is first thing Friday morning, then we have to stick around until Saturday morning, in case of complications (this is an outpatient procedure).
Obviously a lot of hurry up and wait in this schedule, but we have no control over that. I will try to check in when I can.
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Post by Merlot Joe on May 20, 2008 12:09:41 GMT -6
Our best to Ann.
Joe and Denice
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on May 20, 2008 13:47:51 GMT -6
Thanks Joe!
Signing off for now. I will update when I get the chance.
Gordon
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Post by Irish Stu on May 20, 2008 15:40:05 GMT -6
Gordon
Missed this thread earlier. Update us when you get a chance.
Best wishes to Ann.
Simon
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Post by Christinko on May 20, 2008 15:46:20 GMT -6
Man oh man, Here's to good luck and a steady surgeon's hand that it all works out and fixes the problem!
Sorry I can't meet you two up in Milwaukee (it's only 1.5 hrs from me) but I have a house guest (guess who!) starting Thursday and other commitments.
Seriously--all the best. But after Ann gets it all fixed her excuse of not having heard you won't work as well as it did before....hmmmm, I'm going to have to think up some alternates/variations for her to use for why she might ignore you (we gals need to stick together).
Chris
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Post by innit Geezer on May 20, 2008 19:32:52 GMT -6
Good luck Gordon and all the best to your wife for a speedy healing. We'll be thinking of you Friday.
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Post by Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III on May 20, 2008 21:07:59 GMT -6
Good luck, Gordon!!
.........Bob
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Post by Chicago Jake on May 20, 2008 23:21:51 GMT -6
Best of luck, Gordon and Ann......Jake
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Post by pixiedust on May 21, 2008 6:18:49 GMT -6
Best wishes for a successful result Gordon!
Colleen
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Post by edie2u on May 21, 2008 18:44:37 GMT -6
I am wishing Ann a successful outcome to her surgery. Good luck and God Bless.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on May 23, 2008 7:47:52 GMT -6
Ann is in surgery right now. After talking with her surgeon, we found out she is having a Stapedectomy. The surgeon will make a small incision just outside the ear drum, tunnel under the eardrum to get to the middle ear. He will then blast the stapes (the stirrup bone) with a laser, basically breaking it, remove it and install a prosthetic stapes and then hook the remaining bones back up to it. 90% chance of a 10 decibel hearing improvement, <1% chance of complete hearing loss. Her condition is a genetic predisposition case, her great-grandmother and grandmother both wore hearing aids, but her sister and mother are fine. Apparently having measles as a child increases the chances, but it is a 1 person in 100,000 condition. More later when she gets out Gordon |
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Post by Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III on May 23, 2008 8:36:00 GMT -6
Good Luck!!
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Post by New Mama on May 23, 2008 8:40:07 GMT -6
The best of luck Gordon!
Anita (waving north to you)
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on May 23, 2008 11:44:07 GMT -6
All is well, in fact we are checked out and back at the hotel. It was a textbook operation, but it will be about a week until we know what level of hearing restoration has been achieved.
Later
G
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on May 23, 2008 11:48:33 GMT -6
I'm debating whether or not I should break the news to Gordon that no matter how many hearing operations she has, like any wife, she still won't listen.
Nah, I'll let some guy who's actually married to manage the poor bastard's expectations.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on May 23, 2008 11:58:59 GMT -6
BB, I am already WELL AWARE of the implications. Besides the one you mentioned, I will now have to put up with "DAMN you snored all last night" (it used to be that she could lay her head on her good ear, I already have plans to get a new couch as a refuge)
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on May 23, 2008 12:57:44 GMT -6
The big surprise here is that you don't already sleep on the couch.
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Post by Chicago Jake on May 23, 2008 14:01:46 GMT -6
My dad recently had eye surgery, which vastly improved his vision. My mother's comment was, "Damn, now I'm going to really have to clean the house."
I told her, "Yeah, and maybe start wearing some make-up."
The bruises are almost gone from my head.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on May 23, 2008 14:18:05 GMT -6
But the emotional scars will last a lifetime.
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Post by Merlot Joe on May 23, 2008 16:52:16 GMT -6
But the emotional scars will last a lifetime. Those are from his dad getting a good look at him and saying "are you my kid?" Joe |
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on May 23, 2008 23:07:39 GMT -6
And his mother replying, "It depends. Which sailor were you?".
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Post by Tex on May 26, 2008 12:08:19 GMT -6
I hope that your wife's stapedectomy went better than mine. All I have had in my left ear is ringing since the operation in the early 80's. The prosthesis would not fit so they used a bone from a corpse. (the guy must have been killed due to not hearing the train coming). My balance was so fucked up for several weeks that I had to have a cane to walk for a few weeks and was constantly motion sick.
I do believe that most such operations work very well and that I just got the 1%.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on May 26, 2008 13:24:31 GMT -6
So far so good Tex, she hasnt had any dizziness since the anesthetics wore off. Minor pain, but she has Tylenol with codeine for that. My biggest fear going in, of her being car sick for the entire 7 hour ride home, didnt come about. She wont know until her follow up the end of the week what kind of hearing she has. Right now her ear canal has so much packing material in it she cant hear with it at all, which has really messed with her identifying certain sounds the past few days.
Sorry to hear that yours went so bad. Did they ever give you a satisfactory explanation for your post-operative symptoms. Her doctor did say that the use of lasers instead of mechanical means has improved results quite a bit.
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Post by Tex on May 26, 2008 13:58:20 GMT -6
The doctor who operated on me had a very good reputation for that operation. I traveled to Austin (5 hours) to have the work done. The original doctor thought that he could make it better with a second operation but I had so much grief with the first that I wasn't interested. Another doctor theorized that the docs may have hit the nerve with the laser (fairly new technology at the time) and fucked it up. I decided to forget it and move on.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on May 27, 2008 4:56:10 GMT -6
That pretty much answers my next question, whether you had thought about a corrective surgery.
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