ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Post-Treatment => Topic started by: Sailfish on September 16, 2017, 04:06:52 pm
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How has losing the hearing in one ear affected your life?
I'm leaning towards the TL surgery myself. My suergeon wants to try RS because he would like to try and preserve my hearing when he says it's 50/50 or maybe 60/40 that I will lose it anyhow.
The RS is a much longer surgery with greater risks and on outcome in question. I believe I am willing to give up my hearing to reduce risks.
So again I ask how has losing your hearing changed your life?
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Will only one hearing ear, you cannot tell from which direction sounds are coming. Also, difficult to filter out background noise.
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Sailfishboy,,
I became SSD 6 years ago after my TL surgery,, I adjusted to it quite well actually. It does not greatly affect my daily life except for the lack of directional hearing. That is the most bothersome in that it is aggravating when my husband calls to me and, if he's out of the room , I can't tell where he is,,, however, if I had poor hearing,, I probably couldn't either... also, it can be a hazard when driving or crossing the street ( I.e. Emergency vehicle approaching and you can't tell from which direction immediately ) etc,,, however,, you learn to be more cautious driving and crossing the street,,, you adjust well.
Is it ideal?? No it's not,,, is it " a big thing" ,, not for me,, now in full disclosure,,, I did get a Cochlear BAHA implanted after 3 years just to see if I could get some hearing back. I do love it since I recently upgraded to the 5 power processor,,, but I was not happy with my original processor and did not wear it all day , every day,,,, now I wear it most days. If I am at home I still don't wear it though as SSD is just not that big a deal to me,,,,
As far as not being able " to filter out background noise",, you are completely deaf in that ear so you can't filter out anything,,,, i have tinnitus still on that side so it "seems" like I have noise over there but it's not hearing,,,,,
Some folks are more troubled by SSD than others,,, but for me,, it's not a big deal.
One complication I have heard of from RS surgery is painful muscles in the neck due to them being cut to access the tumor,,, but I don't have first hand knowledge of it,,, may just be something to ask your Dr about.
Good luck with your decision,,, it's tough,,, peace,,
Jane
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I had RS surgery end of October 2016 and the surgery did preserve SOME hearing although most days it isn't functional hearing without a hearing aid. Oddly, my hearing still fluctuates to this day- some days I can hear fairly well and can hear a someone over the phone in my affected ear and other days I can't hear at all.
The biggest adjust I've had is of course the direction of sound but also when someone sits directly on my affected side, I really have to turn my head so I can hear them.
Also the tinnitus is awful at times but it would be even if I totally lost hearing in that ear.
I don't regret having RS surgery because I wanted a shot at saving my hearing but it hasn't been as bad an adjustment as I thought it would be adjusting to the hearing loss.
My neck did hurt for a while after the surgery and that side of my neck feels funky, if that makes sense. But once I could stand pressure on that side, a little massage helped with the neck pain and it doesn't bother me anymore. I also don't have headaches anymore like I did before surgery and they say headaches is a greater side effect with RS surgery.
Like I said, I don't regret my surgery decision. Best of luck to you!