Ear Problems, follow up on tree thread.

   / Ear Problems, follow up on tree thread. #1  

RSKY

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Kentucky, West of the Lakes, South of Possum Trot.
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I told of my initial problems on my thread about "What kind of tree is this?"

We are back home.

For the fourth time in two years I had to go to the Shea Clinic in Memphis for a treatment on my right ear. I have a condition called Ménière's disease which causes problems with balance and hearing. About 1992 I had a shunt installed in my right inner ear to take care of the problem. I was told at the time that the process would last twenty to thirty years. Well, It's been over thirty years. That surgery is no longer done because I was one of the few that it actually worked on.

Two years ago I started having trouble with my hearing necessitating my wearing hearing aids. I had three treatments to stop the hearing loss which seemed to be working.

Sunday August the 10th I had an episode at church that led two very experienced RNs to believe I was having a heart attack. I was transported to the Murray/Calloway Hospital and spent the next day having multiple tests on my heart including a chemical stress test. No problems were found. Four days later I had another event in which I couldn't even crawl without falling over. So a quick call to the Shea Clinic got me an appointment Tuesday. (Initial appointments usually take four months.) After describing my symptoms Dr. Paul Shea said it was a classic Meniere's attack. The treatment I had Wednesday morning was different from the others. Instead of a three day in a row needle thru the eardrum and the inner ear being filled with steroids they injected a drug that permanently numbs some of the nerves going to the balance receptors in my ear.

The good doctor said he had patients having two or three events every week and this treatment worked for them. I cannot imagine going thru that. But he is very sure that this treatment will stop the vertigo, nausea, and other symptoms caused by the disease. But he said he uses less of the numbing drug than other doctors and I might need one more treatment in a year or two.

It was kinda scary that the surgical nurses said hi when they saw me and the anesthesiologist walked by and saw me in a room and came back to talk. Been there too many times the past couple years.

IF you or someone you know has ear problems of any kind the Shea Clinic is one of the top places in the world to go. Four generations of the Shea family have been ear surgeons and have developed many of the procedures used worldwide.

RSKY
 
   / Ear Problems, follow up on tree thread. #2  
I told of my initial problems on my thread about "What kind of tree is this?"

We are back home.

For the fourth time in two years I had to go to the Shea Clinic in Memphis for a treatment on my right ear. I have a condition called Ménière's disease which causes problems with balance and hearing. About 1992 I had a shunt installed in my right inner ear to take care of the problem. I was told at the time that the process would last twenty to thirty years. Well, It's been over thirty years. That surgery is no longer done because I was one of the few that it actually worked on.

Two years ago I started having trouble with my hearing necessitating my wearing hearing aids. I had three treatments to stop the hearing loss which seemed to be working.

Sunday August the 10th I had an episode at church that led two very experienced RNs to believe I was having a heart attack. I was transported to the Murray/Calloway Hospital and spent the next day having multiple tests on my heart including a chemical stress test. No problems were found. Four days later I had another event in which I couldn't even crawl without falling over. So a quick call to the Shea Clinic got me an appointment Tuesday. (Initial appointments usually take four months.) After describing my symptoms Dr. Paul Shea said it was a classic Meniere's attack. The treatment I had Wednesday morning was different from the others. Instead of a three day in a row needle thru the eardrum and the inner ear being filled with steroids they injected a drug that permanently numbs some of the nerves going to the balance receptors in my ear.

The good doctor said he had patients having two or three events every week and this treatment worked for them. I cannot imagine going thru that. But he is very sure that this treatment will stop the vertigo, nausea, and other symptoms caused by the disease. But he said he uses less of the numbing drug than other doctors and I might need one more treatment in a year or two.

It was kinda scary that the surgical nurses said hi when they saw me and the anesthesiologist walked by and saw me in a room and came back to talk. Been there too many times the past couple years.

IF you or someone you know has ear problems of any kind the Shea Clinic is one of the top places in the world to go. Four generations of the Shea family have been ear surgeons and have developed many of the procedures used worldwide.

RSKY
It's nice to know that someone is taking care of your Menier's. I have had it for about 35 years. I used to fall out of chairs but I got over that. I am super fortunate that I don't suffer from motion sickness. I have been to see the best balance docs in the Seattle area with no help. Now I just kinda wobble around. If I get to the point where I can't function again like falling down too much I will check out the Shea clinic. For me it is more of a nuisance than anything else because I have become accustomed to being dizzy all the time.
Eric
 
   / Ear Problems, follow up on tree thread.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
We have seen people from all over the world at the clinic. Last Thursday I couldn't even crawl without tilting over on my left side. Somebody had jacked the house up and the floor seemed to be at a 45 degree angle.

I felt better as soon as I walked out of the clinic.

RSKY
 
   / Ear Problems, follow up on tree thread. #4  
We have seen people from all over the world at the clinic. Last Thursday I couldn't even crawl without tilting over on my left side. Somebody had jacked the house up and the floor seemed to be at a 45 degree angle.

I felt better as soon as I walked out of the clinic.

RSKY
Yeah, I know that feeling. When I first got dizzy there was really no help except drastic surgery which would have left me permanently deaf in one ear. Fortunately my brain was still plastic enough to compensate for the worst dizzyness. But I have been told more than once that I will start getting so dizzy something will need to be done. From your experience it looks like the Shea clinic would be a good place to go. Still, I have seemed to have reached a plateau where I'm not getting worse, or at lease getting worse quite slowly.
Eric
 

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