Unsuccessful BAHA surgery

[leapyrtwins]

FWIW, I'm very glad no one "scared me off" from BAHA surgery.

My BAHA implant has been one of the best things I've done recently - hands down.  I've had my processor for about 10 weeks now and every day I'm still amazed about the positive changes it's made in my life.

While I'm very sorry to hear that some patients have complications, everyone is different and those considering the BAHA should keep this in mind.

To each his own,

Jan

[wendysig]

Hi Elda,
Sorry I'm late coming ot this thread and even more sorry about your horrible experience with BAHA surgery.  I'm sure what happened to you is very rare and you were unfortunate enougjh to be the one it happened to.  I truly hope you are on the road to recovery and everything will be okay.  As Michelle stated, we all know that there are risks involved with any form of surgery, obviously some worse than others.  I had surgery for my acoustic neuroma four weeks ago and  although I find what happened to you to be a terrible thing, nothing short of lightniing striking me will keep me from getting a BAHA as soon as I can.  I hate being SSD and can't stand the idea of having anything in my ear canal the rest of my life.  I know some people do very well being SSD and some people love their TransEars but BAHA is still the way I plan to go.  From what I know of it, it seems like the best thing created since sliced bread and worth the risks involved, which are usually minor, for me anyway.  I wish you a qulick resolution and good health.

Wendy

Hi Jan,

Hope all is well and you are enjoying wonderful BAHA moments all the time!!

[leapyrtwins]

Hi, Wendy -

I'm good.  A little harried, since school started Thursday afternoon and the kids and I are still working on getting back to a routine.  Summer is great, but everything tends to go to hell as far as our schedule goes 

I'm glad you are doing so well in your recovery and sorry to hear you hate being SSD - although I can totally relate.  As I've said a kazillion times, BAHAs aren't for everyone, but mine has been nothing short of miraculous for me.  I hope you have the same experience 

Jan

[sgerrard]

Jan, I think the explanation for the double BAHAs of Mo's brother is that with AN, you have sensory-neural, or inner ear hearing loss - no functioning hearing organ or nerve. The BAHA then serves to transmit sound through bone to the other side.

But many people experience conductive hearing loss, a problem in the middle ear. Their inner ear is working fine, but the sound just doesn't get to it, and an ordinary hearing aid won't help. In that case, a BAHA can transmit the sound through bone to bypass the middle ear, so it gets to the inner ear on the same side. if someone has conductive hearing loss on both sides, then stereo BAHAs would make sense for them.

Elda's is the first case I have heard about of a BAHA installation going awry. I think it is pretty rare, but it does sound like the doctor doing the procedure should make sure that the bone in the area has healed well before proceeding. Elda, you have my best wishes for a speedy recovery from all this.

I suspect that the installation was not done by the same doctor who did the AN surgery, so they may not have known as much about how the retrosigmoid surgery might have affected the bone. Hopefully the situation can be straightened out in Elda's case, and can be avoided for others. I hope it does not put people off too much, because there have been a lot of successes with the BAHA and it has been a big help to many users.

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

Steve -

thanks for the scientific explanation of the two BAHAs.  I know people who have hearing loss without having an AN can use BAHAs, but I thought they had to be unilaterally deaf.   I wasn't sure if someone who was completely deaf could benefit from a BAHA; I thought they had to have a Cochlear.  Guess I was wrong 

Regardless, I was glad to hear that Mo's "connection" had such success with his BAHAs.

Although we all know BAHA installations gone awry (nice phrase) aren't common, I do know of one other AN patient who had an issue with healing.  I met him through the WTT list and his name is Dave.  He told me that his BAHA site didn't heal well, so the doc had to take a skin graft from somewhere else on his body - I'm thinking his leg or upper arm - and use it on the site.  At that point he healed just fine and went on to enjoy his BAHA.  He was one of the people who encouraged me to pursue it 

Perhaps, as you say, Elda's BAHA surgeon wasn't the same surgeon who performed her AN surgery.  In my case, my doc did both my surgeries, so he was well aware of what he could possible "encounter" during my implant. 

Jan

[wendysig]

Hi Jan,
I haven't visited this thread in a while and hope you and the kids have settled back into a routine by now.  Tomorrow is the first day of school here and I'm sure the morning will be chaotic.  With regard to hating being SSD, it's all the little things I miss, hearing my cat purr if he is not sitting on my lap or left side.  Hiis purr is so loud that  I could hear him halfway across the room before. It's always been one of my favorite sounds --right now he is laying about two feet away from me on the back of the loveseat which is on my right and I'm sure he is purring because he is looking at me, but I can't hear him.  Not hearing my husband snore most of the time is the only real benefit to being SSD.  I have to say I'm happy about that.  I guess sometimes you just have to find happiness where you can.

Wendy

Sorry for the hijack Elda i hope you are healing well.