Re: Advice for a Newby with an Ear Infection - Pam

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Pam,Thx for the advice! When I see my doc again I'm going to ask about the possibility of a ctoma, and whether a CT scan is advisable. I go in tomorrow for a hearing test, as he said he wants to make sure there isn't any nerve damage. I'm not sure how he can tell that from a hearing test, I mean with all that fluid in my ear I would expect that my hearing is going to be off anyhow. I see the ENT guy a week from tomorrow.RayFrom: Pam Bankston <pamcrt2002@...>Subject: Re: Advice for a Newby with an Ear Infectioncholesteatoma Date: Monday, December 1, 2008, 5:30 PM

Hi Ray,

my daughters ctoma started out with what we thought was an ear infection. She was on 5 or 6 different antibiotics, I can't remember, I've lost count. She went to the ENT, he thought it could be the ctoma or fluid build up but couldn't be sure (because of the hx of infections) until surgery. So she had exploratory surgery and that is when he found the ctoma. We went to a specialist and he removed it. She had chronic infections and tinnitus, looking back, that's what it was. My thought is, and others may vary, is that if your doctor gets in there and sucks out the gunk he may be getting more than what he asks for. I would definitely push for a CT Scan, in this case it can and should be considered medically necessary for the condition to help dx what is going on in your case. If your doctor won't do it, then I'd look for a second opinion.

Pamela Waling "smile, it confuses people..."

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