Now recovery

[veemagic]

Hey guys,
i mentioned this awhile ago and now that I am sitting here with a crapload of staples in my head I thought I would update.

About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with SSCD (Superior Semi-circular Canal Dehiscence) A vestibular condition that is caused when a hole in your skull base erodes into your superior ear canal. I was told at the time of diagnosis to wait as long as possible to attempt a surgical repair due to the condition being fairly rare, it was only discovered in 1998, and the procedures didn't do a very good job. The effects of this are sound induced vertigo, autophony, fullness in the ear, loss of hearing, and a few other little gems. Last January another hole was formed in my other ear and things got much worse. After much research, finding a medical team at UCLA, and ultimately having to change insurances just to get it covered at the place I wanted it done, I had the first side done last Thursday. A middle-fossa craniotomy, then they lift the brain and essentially "spackle" the hole. The procedure went as well as it could have, but I will need to wait for the swelling to go down to see if it actually worked. If it did, then I can have the side repairs in about a year.

So I am sitting here in a condo in Westwood waiting for them to release me so I can start my drive home. I may have to wait another week for clearance. Hasn't been any fun. I have lost my entire balance system and it needs to be "relearned", I have an incision that wraps all the way around my ear that is being held together with staples, holes in my head from the halo, my ear looks seriously f'd, and I can't hear much at all right now. Sort of looks like Dr. Frankensteins first attempt at something. Doing my best just to keep it together.

At at least the weather out here is better than home right now. Just needed to release a little. Thanks for listening

[VitaminG]

geez, man. I'm glad they have a treatment for you but it still sounds like crap. How long approximately does it take to relearn your balance? I hope your recovery is speedy.

[Larz]

Best wishes man, sounds very serious, hope all turns out well with the procedures.

[lepard]

Man, sounds like quite the ordeal. Best of luck to you and hang in there ! If you're stuck just hanging out and bored, let me give you a website that will you will enjoy for hours and hours and hours and hours........... chaturbate.com

[xenophobe]

Wow, what an ordeal. I hope all of the procedures and follow ups are successful and you recover quickly!

I'm glad you were able to find doctors who could treat you!

[Catharpin]

Damn that is a rough one, Hang in there and good luck on a speedy recovery.

[veemagic]

Thanks guys. The balance thing may be a one step forward two step back thing for awhile. Right now I am able to walk fifty to a hundred feet and not very well. Pretty shaky. They say that's normal, but there has been many cases that are still struggling over a year after the first surgery. Others have gotten lucky.

I was very lucky to find the two Neuro surgeons at UCLA and that they are doing incredible advances with this procedure. Unfortunately it is still so early that distant outcomes are relatively unknown. Many surgeries have failed after a year or two requiring people to have 3, 4, and 5 surgeries and the more they try it the less likely it will be to work. I am not down that road yet, and fingers crossed won't be. There are only an estimated 1200 cases diagnosed/confirmed cases of this since 1998 in North America, Australia, and Europe. Many of these patients are not having anything done for various reasons either. Then there are those that are having doctors work on it that really shouldn't be causing more damage. This makes it hard to come up with any definitive long outcomes.

I am heading in to see one of my docs today and see if there is anything wrong. If things look ok I am going to start driving back. Can't fly because of the change in pressure in my head. It's a week or so too early, but we just found out that my wife needs to get home and have further mamagram testing. She had a routine test before she left to come out here and they found (5) "questionable" spots that need more looking into right away. When it fucking rains right

Thanks again for the well wishes and positive vibe.

Kevin

[shreddermon]

Best wishes for you and your wife. Good luck.

[Razor]

Here's hoping you recover soon, and best wishes to you and yours!

[toejam]

Hey, Kevin. Best wishes for both you and your wife.

[veemagic]

Thanks again everyone. Just an update....
i got the go ahead to leave a week or so early and start driving back home. They said everything looked as good as it could right now, and that it will take a few weeks to see if and what really worked. So we started the drive on Thursday. Well, my wife is driving while I hold my head still and try to stop the spinning and concentrate on the pain. The oxiwhatever they have me on is helping with the latter as well. Right now I'd say I have lost about 70-80 percent of the hearing in my left ear. It should come back, but they just don't know. The ringing is unbareable at times, but my voice and body movements arent resonating through that side anymore, so that's a good thing. At least the best I can tell. We have made it just east of Albuquerque on the 40, and have another 19 hrs to go. We are not setting the road on fire with the progress, but we keep moving forward. It looks as though she will be able to get her further testing done right away next week, and get some good news!

[Jayster]

Hoping you have a speedy recovery brother! It's awesome that your wife is supportive, sometimes it's great to have someone to lean on....