Under the Knife

I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning at 9am. My ears are not working right. I've had problems with them off and on since I was little. I've had tubes several times, most recently this January. The tube placed in the right ear fell out much earlier than expected, due to the fact that my eardrum is weak. This was the right ear, and now the left one seems to be following suit.

The eardrums are getting sucked back into the inner ear instead of staying taught like they're supposed to. This is messing up my hearing. I can hear that people are talking, but I'm constantly having to ask them to repeat themselves because everything is 'muddy'. Apparently the state the drums are in can lead to long term hearing issues if it isn't corrected. Placing tubes allows the drums to inflate properly and work the way they're supposed to.

So the problem is that the right drum is so weak that the tubes won't stay put. So the solution for this is to cut some cartilage out of my tragus and graft it onto my eardrum to strengthen it. Once the eardrum is tough again then we can try another tube.

To the best of my knowledge this is the first time I'll be under general anesthesia. Having the tubes put in wasn't too bad because it was quick, but it's disconcerting to have someone poking sharp things into your ear. (It's really, really loud, too.) I'm glad I don't have to be awake for hour or so the surgery is going to take.

Aside from some localized pain and nausea, I have the possibility of getting some of the nearby nerve bundles twanged. My surgeon said she once had a patient that had a metallic taste in his mouth for several months after this surgery. Blech.

So assuming I don't die on the operating table, I'll let you know how I'm doing tomorrow afternoon.