Re: Radical Mastoidectomy for Cholesteatoma 2 weeks ago.

[Guest guest]

My surgery was 3 weeks ago today and I feel very fortunate not to have many

after effects. I also had a radical mastoidectory, my eardrum was replaced, scar

tissue cleaned out, the ear canal widened, and since the middle earbones had

" disappeared " they were replaced. I never had a great sense of taste on that

side because of previous surgeries, so I haven't noticed much change. My

surgery was about 21/2 hours and he used glue to close the incision. That's

where most of my pain is located, it feels like the weight of my ear is pulling

the incision apart. Of course sleeping on that ear is impossible. Occasionally I

get dizzy bending over. After last week's visit, the doc said I would have a

longer recovery since so much was done. I'm not sure when the packing will be

removed, I can't hear much out of that ear. My next appointment is next week.

Hang in there, it takes some time to heal, just keep talking to the doc.

Sharalyn

>

> Hello All, I am new to this forum and was looking for general advice/support

just someone who understand really. 2 weeks ago I had a radical mastoidectomy

where by they removed the inner bone? I had on going ear problems, infections,

discharge, headaches, dizziness for 2 years before they pulled their fingers out

and did a CT scan revealing a Cholesteatoma on the attic which was already

eroding the bone between by ear and brain. Lovely! So my operation lasted just

over 5 hours! Is this normal? My recovery has been long, I am still dizzy and

after having my stitches removed a week after the wound started to weep and

smelt very strong of TCP,I have been put on lots of other medicine for

infection, only to find out there is no bacterial infection when swabbed. Very

confused. I have since been back to hospital who have now removed the packing

and glued the hole at the bottom of my wound. Still having headaches, dizziness,

things taste wierd. Any adivce, help, just anything would be really appreciated.

Thanks so much. Emma

>

[Guest guest]

Emma,

I too had a radical mastoidectomy, and my recovery time was about 3 weeks before I could go back to work. Some people have varying recovery timeframes and it seems that is due to how extensive the infection has been resident and the damage it has taken. Vertigo is all normal and I had it constant for 2.5 weeks.

My only suggestion and it worked for me to speed up recovery, is walk around your house as much as possible. This is to help the brain retrain and workaround the equilibrium issues you are experiencing.

-Nate

From: emmalburgess86 <emmalburgess86@...>cholesteatoma Sent: Fri, February 25, 2011 7:54:23 AMSubject: Radical Mastoidectomy for Cholesteatoma 2 weeks ago.

Hello All, I am new to this forum and was looking for general advice/support just someone who understand really. 2 weeks ago I had a radical mastoidectomy where by they removed the inner bone? I had on going ear problems, infections, discharge, headaches, dizziness for 2 years before they pulled their fingers out and did a CT scan revealing a Cholesteatoma on the attic which was already eroding the bone between by ear and brain. Lovely! So my operation lasted just over 5 hours! Is this normal? My recovery has been long, I am still dizzy and after having my stitches removed a week after the wound started to weep and smelt very strong of TCP,I have been put on lots of other medicine for infection, only to find out there is no bacterial infection when swabbed. Very confused. I have since been back to hospital who have now removed the packing and glued the hole at the bottom of my wound. Still having headaches, dizziness, things taste wierd. Any adivce,

help, just anything would be really appreciated. Thanks so much. Emma

[Guest guest]

I had a mastoidectomy/tympanoplasty to remove a c-toma about 18 months ago. The first two weeks after surgery were terrible for me. It ended up when the surgeon put in the titanium prothesis it pulled the ligament too tight and I ended up with an inner ear fluid leak. I was very dizzy after surgery and pretty much could only lay very still. It ended up I went back in and they put me on steroids and it cleared up. But it took a good strong 2-3 weeks to feel better. Also, it took MONTHS for my taste to get back to normal. It has been 18 months and my taste is better but not back to "normal". Right after surgery I could taste nothing. And the right side of my tongue felt like it was burned. What you are describing seems very similar to my experience. It just takes time- I was upset by how long it seemed

to take me to recover- all depends on your age and how you recover from anesthesia too. Don't get discouraged, or try to do too much- your body needs to recover!From: emmalburgess86 <emmalburgess86@...>Subject: Radical Mastoidectomy for Cholesteatoma 2 weeks ago.cholesteatoma Date: Friday, February 25, 2011, 12:54 PM

Hello All, I am new to this forum and was looking for general advice/support just someone who understand really. 2 weeks ago I had a radical mastoidectomy where by they removed the inner bone? I had on going ear problems, infections, discharge, headaches, dizziness for 2 years before they pulled their fingers out and did a CT scan revealing a Cholesteatoma on the attic which was already eroding the bone between by ear and brain. Lovely! So my operation lasted just over 5 hours! Is this normal? My recovery has been long, I am still dizzy and after having my stitches removed a week after the wound started to weep and smelt very strong of TCP,I have been put on lots of other medicine for infection, only to find out there is no bacterial infection when swabbed. Very confused. I have since been back to hospital who have now removed the packing and glued the hole at the bottom of my wound. Still having headaches, dizziness, things taste wierd. Any

adivce, help, just anything would be really appreciated. Thanks so much. Emma

[Guest guest]

Wow this sounds very similar to me, the numbness on the right side of my tounge can only be described as though it feels like it has been burnt without the pain but the complete inability to taste anything. My dizziness is starting to become more controlled, the fluid which was coming out of my wound and glued up is now coming out my ear canal but gradually becoming less. Although I am starting to taste better on the right hand side this is now 4 weeks after, like you said I imagine this is going to take a fair amount of time for it to come back. The wound at the back of my ear still hurts a lot where they had to glue it, but not anywhere else, again I am guess this is going to take a while to sort itself out. Nice to hear I am not the only one experiencing these problems.

From: Sefton <seftonmichelle@...>cholesteatoma Sent: Wed, March 2, 2011 2:22:47 PMSubject: Re: Radical Mastoidectomy for Cholesteatoma 2 weeks ago.

I had a mastoidectomy/tympanoplasty to remove a c-toma about 18 months ago. The first two weeks after surgery were terrible for me. It ended up when the surgeon put in the titanium prothesis it pulled the ligament too tight and I ended up with an inner ear fluid leak. I was very dizzy after surgery and pretty much could only lay very still. It ended up I went back in and they put me on steroids and it cleared up. But it took a good strong 2-3 weeks to feel better. Also, it took MONTHS for my taste to get back to normal. It has been 18 months and my taste is better but not back to "normal". Right after surgery I could taste nothing. And the right side of my tongue felt like it was burned. What you are describing seems very similar to my experience. It just takes time- I was upset by how long it seemed to take me to recover- all depends on your age and how you recover from

anesthesia too. Don't get discouraged, or try to do too much- your body needs to recover!

From: emmalburgess86 <emmalburgess86@...>Subject: Radical Mastoidectomy for Cholesteatoma 2 weeks ago.cholesteatoma Date: Friday, February 25, 2011, 12:54 PM

Hello All, I am new to this forum and was looking for general advice/support just someone who understand really. 2 weeks ago I had a radical mastoidectomy where by they removed the inner bone? I had on going ear problems, infections, discharge, headaches, dizziness for 2 years before they pulled their fingers out and did a CT scan revealing a Cholesteatoma on the attic which was already eroding the bone between by ear and brain. Lovely! So my operation lasted just over 5 hours! Is this normal? My recovery has been long, I am still dizzy and after having my stitches removed a week after the wound started to weep and smelt very strong of TCP,I have been put on lots of other medicine for infection, only to find out there is no bacterial infection when swabbed. Very confused. I have since been back to hospital who have now removed the packing and glued the hole at the bottom of my wound. Still having headaches, dizziness, things taste wierd. Any adivce,

help, just anything would be really appreciated. Thanks so much. Emma