Hello, everyone.
I found this forum only a few minutes ago. I may or may not belong here, but it's a good place to start. Perhaps I should explain why I'm here?
After years of being told that I need a hearing aid (I need what?) I went to an audiologist last year for a hearing test. It showed a profound hearing loss in my right ear. I was refered to the hospital for an ABR to make sure that the hearing nerve was ok and that a hearing aid would help me. All that I know was that there was 'some slight' nerve loss, but that it looked ok. I was fitted with a hearing aid.
That's 12 months ago last week. I've had it back in for repairs 3x (it was lost this last time) and I find that it just stops working all of a sudden, but then comes back (perhaps an hour later, perhaps a few minutes)? Frustrated with this, I went to a second audiologist for a test. His opinion was quite different.
First of all, he was shocked that my left ear has literally perfect hearing (I'm 41) with no hearing loss at all. My right ear starts out ok at low frequency but very quickly and precipitously drops down to the bottom of the chart, just curling up slightly at the right. He says that this just doesn't happen. If it were from aging, my left ear would also show diminished hearing. If it were from an injury (I was close to an air horn 5 years ago when it was blown & suspected this was the cause) he says that there would be SOME indication of a problem on the left ear, since it is close to the right ear. He wonders why this strange hearing loss was never questioned. I mentioned the ABR, but he says they can miss things. Long story short, he insist that I be referred to an ENT for an MRI before he'll do anything else with me.
He did a comprehensioin test where he read words and had me repeat them without looking at them. My left ear was 100%, but in the right ear I couldn't understand anything he said. For the few words I could figure out, it took me seconds to think about it and then come up with my best guess. "Sheep? Sleep? Sweep? Something ending in -eep". Most of the words were just gibberish "gooona? Splabinks?"
After researching this, I found out about aucoustic neuroma. When I spoke with him yesterday he admitted that this is his suspiciion and that my hearing loss so strongly indicates it that it must be checked out. Of course, he admits that he can't make a medical diagnosis and is not a doctor, so that's why he wants a referral to a specialist. I feel comfortable with this new audiologist.
I've had some hearing loss for years and my rt. ear rings constantly. At times I get this 'fluttering' sound in the right ear as if someone were reaching in an tapping on my eardrum. It usually lasts only a few minutes and I get this 'thump thump thump-thump-thump' sound occuring. It's not all the time, but is becoming more frequent. I also notice a significant reduction in my rt. ear hearing over the past year. I don't have any facial numbness or weakness nor any physical signs of any problems. I'm clumsy as all heck, and constantly trip over things, fall over, etc. I haven't thought if it's been any worse lately, but I can easily fall coming upstairs or over a shadow on the floor. I always thought I was just clumsy. Also, I do have some fuzzy vision on my right side at times. When I'm tired, I can't seem to focus on the words in a book through my right eye. I thought this was just a combination of aging and perhaps using the computer too much during the day. And perhaps it is. Of course I realize that if you look up any dreaded rare tropical disease, everone has at least a few symptoms of that. "Hey, I get thirsty sometimes, too!!!"
Now, I'm not particularly upset about the possibility of AN. I realize it's benign and hey, if it can be treated and removed, then it's a good thing. I won't lose sleep over it. My wife is just recovering from her 2nd surgery for breast cancer and had a double mastectomy last week, so I feel like "Oh, great, what NOW?", but other than that I'm not feeling like I'll die or this horrible thing has happened. After all, I don't even know if it is an AN. I have to wait for an ENT referral, MRI, etc. Unfortuantely, it could be 6 months before I can get into an ENT, so I think I'm in for a long wait.
What do you think? Of course, I'm not asking for a medical opinion, just some thoughts from people who have been through this or know something about it. The audiologist says it could just be a vascular problem in the ear, but says there's definitely something going on inside there. I guess I'm more of a realist and when I see the symptoms and think about past things that have happened with my hearing, I start to think "Hmm, there is a good chance this could be it".
John
