Fw: Managing Cholesteatoma

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anony8107 wrote:-

> After discussing the situation with the surgeon, I decided for regular> checkups and microsuction, instead of an operation. There is no real> suffering and the hearing is reasonable on that ear. The ear gets easily> blocked after each common cold, and I visit the surgeon for microsuction> after the cold is over.> > Reading this group, it looks like practically everyone chooses for surgery,> either canal wall up or down, which makes me feel an exception.> > Does anyone else chose to manage the Cholesteatoma with regular> checkup/microsuction for a long period of time?>

This is the first time I've heard of anyone actively choosing this course. However, in my own case I think this happened by default ! Yes I know that sounds like nonsense, so let me explain. Before I had my mastoidectomy, I had been advised by various ENT surgeons that my ear would eventually require surgery but I was never told why; the story I kept getting was "This ear will need an operation in the future but it will announce itself when it does." Cholesteatoma was never mentioned and no-one ever explained that I had a condition that would gradually get worse. In the days before the world-wide web there was no real way to check on any of this information,so I had many years of microsuction etc. without being any the wiser. It was only when I changed ENTs in 1998/9 or so that I was positively told that the time had come for surgery - and then it was on the other ear, not the one which had been monitored for all those years !

I wonder if any other UK patients have similar stories ??

,

Milton Keynes, UK