16 months post op - sudden ear pain

[Imcamodchick88]

Hello!

I am a newbie here. I am 16 months post-op. I had my surgery December 23, 2011 to remove a 2.8-cm acoustic neuroma from my right ear. I had the translabyrinthine procedure done at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. The surgery took 11 hours, and I only had one complication due to a blood clot that attempted to cause a stroke, but I am too stubborn a person for that.

After surgery, I pushed myself to become "normal" as soon as possible. I am a college student (I was 21 at the age of surgery, and I am 22 now,) and I wanted to go back to school for the spring semester. So I worked hard to be able to drive, and focus. The only lingering effects I had by January 13, the first day of classes, were mild exhaustion, and migraines on an occasional basis. And of course that I was now deaf in my right ear. I also wasn't allowed in labs due to the "physical exertion weight limits" from my doctor, so I had to restrict my course load to half. I didn't return to work for another month, due to the Dr having already written the note to restrict me from work until then, since we didn't know if I would be able to drive, and driving is a necessity for my job. I even was able to go back to choir for my scholarships!

However, now my days are back to normal, although I still get tired easily. And when I am tired, my balance is off. I do still have migraines, but a daily pill helps to control them. I more put all of that for background, since I am new.

About a week ago, I began having pain in my AN ear. It feels as if there is a knife stabbing into my ear. I live 2 hours away from my otologist, and when I see a doctor around here, alot of the time I hear "wow I haven't hear of one of those since med school!" My GP said he thought it was an ear infection, but it just keeps getting worse. If I push above my ear, on the soft spot where the bone was taken out, the pain dulls slightly. It gets worse when I shower, even though I try to keep water out and use water drying drops.

Has anyone else had this? Is it worth making the drive to my otologist for? I want to be sure, especially since finals are coming up.

I also would like to ask if anyone has flown after their surgery, and if it caused any problems.

Thanks in advance,
Kristin

[Sheila1977]

Hi Kristin,
I cannot comment on the ear pain but hope you get relief soon.  I will be interested to hear what others have experienced with ear pain after surgery.  I am post-op 7 months now from translab surgery.  Although I am careful not to get too overly tired and fatigued, just last month I traveled for my job about 5 times with no problems (traveled by air).  Again, nothing different on travelling except I won't hear the stewardess asking about refreshments if she or he are on my affected side.  Your recovery effort is quite impressive by the way.  Hope this helps and wishing you relief soon.
s

[alabamajane]

Hi Kristin,
Congrats on your recovery so far,, you seem to be doing great!
I am about 2mos ahead of you from translab,, Oct.2011, and "considerably"older  ,,, I have not had the ear pain as intense as you mention,, just more mild, I still have considerable numbness of that ear ;however I also had a nerve graft on that side which may be an additional influence..

I would suggest a call maybe first to Dr to explain symptom,, he may have a suggestion or be able to call in a Rx to help,, do you have a local ENT or primary care that you could see to determine if it is an infection? My ear will ache more in wind like on a boat or really loud noise ,, but not intense nor prolonged ,,

I have also flown several times since surgery with no problems,, mine is my right ear so I just get a window seat and then am able to converse with fellow passenger and flight attendant. Good luck and let us know what you find out,, we care and those of us in your situation will learn a thing or two also! . Best of luck with your continued recovery. Jane

[Imcamodchick88]

So I am a little late in replying in my results, but I had my finals the past 2 weeks. Well, I had to go to 3 different doctors in order to get a response. I called my ENT that did the surgery first, and he said to go to a primary here in town, since it was unlikely from my surgery or it would have been hurting constantly since my surgery. The first primary said it looked like nothing, and was probably in my head, and that I didn't understand what severe ear pain felt like. (I live in a very small college town, so doctors here tend to think students just want meds.) So I went to another. He said that my ear canal was twisted and he couldn't see well enough to make a diagnosis, and sent me to his colleague down the hall. This guy was an elderly man, who looked in my ear, said "it's an ear infection, your ear canal looks funny, but I can see some redness and swelling, so we are going to guess ear infection." So I was given an antibiotic to take for 10 days, since I'm allergic to sulfa meds and z-pacs don't work on me. Then I had to rehash the an story, as I do for most doctors I go to here. So there is what happened.

As for the flying, I am going with my brother. He gets sick of having to repeat himself, so he has decided to make me a badge to where on that side that says "talk to the other ear." I am more worried because Ive always had problems with my ears popping on flights, hopefully this will be better.

Thank you for all of your responses!
Kristin

[Jim Scott]

Hi, Kristin ~

Thanks for the update and although an ear infection is no fun, I'm glad it didn't turn out to be AN related.  To my knowledge, flying in a pressurized airliner cabin should not pose a problem for you. 

I want to add that I admire your determination to get your normal life back and that you are coping well (as I do) with being SSD (Single Side Deaf).

Jim