Well, life has once again thrown me the curve ball. After about four months with the long term "t" tube in my right ear, I started having issues again last week. I felt fluid in my ear drum and had trouble hearing. It was all around just annoying.
So, the ear doctor got me in today (I called this AM! -- they are wonderful about this!). Nurse Practitioner (who is amazing!) confirmed that the tube was out and just hanging out on my ear drum. Taken back to do the gamut of hearing tests and timpanogram, etc. Other nurse practitioner said "Are you ok with putting a tube in here in the office rather than surgery?!" Me: Yup -- been there and done that! Lets do it.
Ear drum numbed (hurt a bit); pressure of scalpel cutting through ear drum and voila -- MORE FLUID! So, we decided that because my ear drums heal so fast that the fluid has only been there for about three days. I was at my family doc with a sore throat on Friday and she confirmed the tube was still in then. So, between Friday and today -- poof! tube out.
Tube comes out -- suction in. Lots of thick fluid comes out. (they are still amazed at how my ears produce so much fluid in such a short amount of time). I had a full allergy panel done about a month ago and apparently I am not allergic to anything -- even though my sinuses are going nuts right now. :-)
So, suction done. Titanium ear tube gets put it. Weird feeling and only hurt at one point, but not a big deal. Our conclusion is that my ear drum tries to heal itself and in turn pushes out the tube as a foreign body. So, titanium is supposed to eliminate this. Guess I will go off in the metal detectors now!
So, tonight, all is good again with the world of my uncooperative ears. Lets see and hopefully I will be at the same state of relaxedness in a few months!
S
How much did shot to numb hurt . Was the whole process much like a dental procedure when you feel a little pain in the beginning and a lot of preassure?
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been checked for thyroid problems? I know it sounds crazy, but I have read many cases where people who had excess ear wax also had untreated thyroid problems-hypothyroidism. Not that the fluid in your case is ear wax, but it wouldn't hurt. Also if you do have thyroid issues, the med to take is armour thyroid. Nothing else will work. Just google it.
ReplyDeleteHow is the Titanium tube? I had issues with my tubes coming out way too quickly and am wondering how the titanium is working for you.
ReplyDeleteSame here Mitchell! I've had altogether 3 sets of tubes in my ears- 2 sets during childhood and 1 as an adult. The one is still in my right ear but the one in my left fell out and now I'm dealing with both ears being plugged and its driving f-in crazy! I'm wondering if getting the titanium tubes would work better for my situation so any advice/input would be well appreciated :-)
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