ANYONE- after surgery still has hearing in their AN ear

[CHD63]

Molly .....

Although I no longer sing solos, I sing in two choral groups (church choir and a community chorus) and have had to make some adjustments in placement within the groups ..... same with accompanying.  Because of the decrease in "normal" hearing on the left, I am as careful as I can be to not be placed next to a very strong singer on my right .... otherwise I cannot hear my own voice or anything else.  (My husband directs the community chorus so he is very aware of my needs ...... in more ways than one!  )

I do not know if it is true with all AN related hearing loss or not, but I find my hearing to be very inconsistent ..... somewhat related to the degree of tinnitus I am experiencing at any given time, as well as my fatigue level.

Hang in there ..... you will still be able to sing ...... you will just need to make adjustments to the "new" sound of your own voice ..... and that gets better and better as time goes on.  You might be interested in Oliver Sachs' book "Musicophilia" .... especially the parts about the brain and pitch perception.  Initially I had a crazy thing going with perceiving two different pitches in my ears!    Bummer!

Feel free to contact me separately if you have other thoughts on this.

Clarice

[Desilu]

Hi Marybeth,

I have not been on the website lately, but I did retain 85% of my hearing after my surgery.  I don't need a hearing aid but I did try one out, it was too pricey! If you would like to talk, just send me a personal email and we can talk. I wish you the best. Ann

[Dog Lover]

Hi MaryBeth,

Yeah - as Steve mentioned earlier in the thread, I had mid-fossa last Aug and my hearing was saved. Not perfect, but definately functional!

Good luck!

Cathy

[cin605]

Hello,I had retro. & my hearing was saved I have no less then before surgry.can hear low but not high tones.High tones are non existant.Good Luck w/ you surgery.
We will be awaiting your postie notes!
cin

[dufreyne]

I have not encountered a single person who has had an AN over 8 mm that sits close to the cochlea that retained hearing after surgery.  It is a likely byproduct of this very difficult procedure.  Over time, they have decreased the risk of the other major complications so much (ie facial palsy, brainstem stroke, bleeding, etc), but to retain hearing you either have to have a very, very smalll tumor (ie 3 or 5 mm in size) or have the tumor located a long way from the cochlea.

Dufreyne--

[kathylittlejohncobb]

Well...my tumor was 2 cm (not mm), and they saved my hearing.  I do feel blessed.
Kathy