BAHA surgery...complications

[susierg]

After my BAHA surgery 1 week ago, I am having some complications.  My wonky head had been getting alot better before surgery and was still good the first two days after surgery.  On the third day, my wonky head came back with a vengence and I'm having swelling and sever pain.  I had my follow up appointment last Friday.  The Dr says everything looks good and said the swelling and  pain could have been from the plastic cap over the abutment.  He removed it, but I'm still having pain. Swelling is starting to go down.  He gave me a script for a steroid dose pack,which I'm on the 3rd day of that.  Was just wondering if anyone else experienced this with their BAHA surgery.  Also, thought that maybe I had this surgery too close to my AN surgery?  It's only been a little over 4 months since my mid fossa.  Hmmmmmm.

[LizAN]

I'm interested in hearing responses to your questions.  I have BAHA surgery coming up on the 19th, and my translab was on July 3rd.  I really don't understand how BAHA surgery can aggravate our post-surgery symptoms, but this is not the first time I have heard of this happening.  I hope it gets better for you soon, susierg.

Liz

[dalern]

From what I have read on this forum, there are a number of people that actually have had their BAHA implant done at the same time as their surgery. Therefore, I'm not sure that there would be any interference having the procedure a few months later.
~Dale

[james e]

I had my titanium screw for my BAHA installed at the same time I had a translab. The abutment was not attached to the titanium screw at that time...the screw went in, he sewed me up, and 3 months later, he put the abutment on the titanium screw. The doc said he does it that way to prevent infection near the translab incision. Don't know if that is true or not, but  the answer satisfied me. Three months later I still had to get the flap of skin scalped, had the hole punched, etc. and then the little plastic lid was snapped on. It was the normal type of skin healing. There was numbness, itching. No pain, but it was there, and I was aware of it. I looked at in the mirror several times every day.

Medical injuries make most of us jump to unfounded conclusions. It hurts right here...look it up on Google...I must have cancer, etc. Turns out you just played tennis for the first time in 20 years, and your stomach muscles never hurt like this before. No cancer, you're just  not a kid anymore.

Well you just had a major surgery that can clearly confuse your brain for the rest of your life. I had my surgery almost 3 years ago, and I am still wonky 24/7. Other AN patients have very little wonky problems. Mine never stops but sometimes it gets to the point that I just have to sit down, and most of the time I am 95% functional. I know what does it to me. Rapid movement of my head really does me in.

My daughter just delivered a new grandson for me this weekend. While she was in the hospital, my wife and I watched our 14 month old grand daughter. Took her to the park one day, and PawPaw and Kinleigh went down the spiral slide abut 5 times. I got ultra vertigo big time. PawPaw just has to stay away from those slides. All that movement just confused my brain.

I am going to take a guess at what happened to you. You are still mildly wonky from your surgery and improving. You start looking at your BAHA site, using a mirror, and you are confusing your brain, and it increases your vertigo. I have found out that my eyes are the primary way I balance myself...that could be happening to you too. Looking into a mirror, that is reflected off another mirror could really confuse your brain. I don't think your BAHA had any direct cause for your wonky feeling. I do think it had an indirect cause...you looking at it with a mirror. As the kids say now "just saying..."

I might be wrong, but that is my guess and I'm sticking  to it.

James

Hope you are feeling better.

[CHD63]

My abutment was implanted at the same time as my translab surgery, as well ..... the whole thing ..... post, screw, and abutment.  It had a healing cap around it for 8 days ..... it came off the same day as stitches removed from incision.  Maybe I am an easy healer, but I had no difficulty whatsoever with either.  Sure, I had to keep it clean in the area, but normal shampooing took care of that, with a very little dab of Bacitracin just a couple of times.

A return to swelling, pain, headache, wonky head are all things you should tell your doctor.

Clarice

[jaylogs]

Susie, so sorry you are having problems.  I had the mother of all problems with mine when I had first got it put in.  You can read the whole saga here: http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=15003.0.  But these things do go away eventually and it will all be a distant memory, just as my problems did!
Jay

[leapyrtwins]

My implant was done after my AN surgery - 9 months after because my insurance company dragged their feet when it came to the question of coverage.

My doc doesn't combine the AN and the BAHA surgeries; some docs do, some don't.

I didn't have any healing problems; sorry to hear you've had them.

Hope they have gotten better by now.

Jan