#3

So, yes, indeed, as I suspected I will be having surgery 3# this year on Tuesday. This time, it's on my ear again. It's not my Dr.'s fist choice as a measure of treatment. The affective-ness of this surgery has gone from 70% success rate, to pretty much something most Dr.'s believe its just a placebo. (according to google). In other words, it works for some and it does not work for others, and if it does work, it might only work for a month, or it could work for years. Its different for everyone. This procedure will be similar to the first one I had where he will shave off some of the mastoid bone around the ear, do some other things that only Dr.'s know about, and this time he will put a shunt in. It's called Endolymphatic Shunt. I could tell by my conversation with my Dr., he would have preferred for me to do the Gentamicin injections which are 90% effective. I told him that the problem with the injections, are the side affects, and if my 3yr. old could make herself breakfast, then I might go along with it, but that isn't the case. He understood, having small children of his own, he could relate. Which I appreciate.

I figure that with the surgery, I have nothing to lose by giving it a try. The good news is that it will be 100% covered by insurance. I just had a feeling they would be calling me telling me I owe some ridiculous amount of money because they didn't want to cover this certain type of surgery because of some ridiculous reason. But they didn't!

It will be at the same surgery center as the last two, probably with the same two pre-op nurses I've had before. (what are the odds of that?)

I'm also glad I'm doing it now, and not waiting. I have a wedding to shoot on the 15th of October, and I am PRAYING I am fully recovered by then. I'm also glad I'm doing it now and not waiting until after the wedding. The pressure and ringing have been getting worse, in a way that its not subsiding. Even for a little bit during the day, and when it's constant like it is, the crummier I feel and the more likely I'll have an episode. Which I HAVE been having during the night. And one time during the day when I was at CCCCD taking a statistics exam. Pretty sure I failed because I had to guess on most of the answers so I could high-tail it out of there.

But, whatever. All you can do it move forward right?
I'm praying that this will put the whole thing to rest for a while, I know I'll always be dealing with this, but a break from it for a year or two would be nice.

My Dr. told me last time I saw him that he thinks I have Menieres because of an autoimmune problem. A bout a month ago I was reading on the internet that there is a link between people with Menieres who also have Thyroid disease. I nearly jumped out of bed. Of course none of this is a fact, but I thought very interesting how both became very apparent in a matter of a few months of each other. (That also could be another reason why I had trouble breast-feeding.) Looking back, I think that's why my Dr. sounded so intrigued when I told him I had a partial thyroid-ectamy. I think maybe that helps figure out just a little bit, why I have this "disease".

I will be typing a full report after recovery. We will see what happens next in the "Tara's Surgery Saga of 2011"