Re: How do they check for Re-occurence ?

January 21, 2008

Joanne wrote :-

> I am now 2 1/2 months post-op from a

> first time tympano-mastoidectomy. They left a bit of packing in over my

> eardrum that they re-grafted. I was to have it removed Feb.13. I

> started to have sharp pains in my ear 6 days ago and I phoned the

> surgeon. They had me come to Calgary right away to take the packing out

> early. There was no sign of any infection and he had no explanation for

> the pains. I feel fine now and he is pleased with my hearing.I

> definately notice a change for the worse but he tells me its almost as

> good as it was before surgery. He wants to see me again in 2 months. I

> asked him how we will know if there is any reoccurance and all he told

> me was & quot;I will keep my eye on it & quot; This answer does not satisfy

> me. Can

> any of you explain to me how they would test me or check me to see if

> there is re-growth?

Joanne,

On this side of the " pond " it's common for the otologist to carry out a

second surgery about a year after the first, ostensibly for the purpose of

reconstructing the ear but also to check carefully for any signs of

regrowth of the Ctoma. I don't know if this is common practise in the

US or not; in the UK the more sophisticated scanning machines are not

always as readily accessible as they are in the US system and the

otologist sometimes has to do without their aid.

One doctor actually said to me " We don't carry out these operations unless

we are sure we can trust the patient to come back for the second look. "

This was never an issue in my case as I was keen to have the

reconstruction and a chance of improved hearing, even though in the end

there was no great improvement. But it was nice to know that there was

definitely no regrowth.

,

Milton Keynes, UK

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