Hi again to all! I came on here to search shunt surgeries and found the whole thing was started again sooooo Im just looking for some advice from ppl that have tried shunt surgery to help with menieres. I have done 3 gent injections but unfortunately i am having problems again and my ENT is considering cutting the nerve in that ear (labryinthectomy sp?) or shunt surgery. I am nervous about the cutting of the nerve because if i should ever go bi-lateral... then what??? that could be bad. but he thinks the shunt may work for me. PLEASE.. if anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate it. thank you. GinaMc
Hi GinaMc I have had the shunt surgery in 2003 and have had any problems with it. If any one asked me if I would do it again I would have to say yes. I havent had any problems with it. Yes I still get the dizzies but not the knock out ones that I use to have. They are very small to the before the shunt. My doctor told me that the shunt can last from any where 2 years to 5 years well I am on my 3 year. I had it the end of sept 2003. When I had the surgery I was real dizzie for a few days and didnt think that it was a great idea after all but the days did get better and better every day. But talk to your doctor and ask alot of questions about the surgery. My doctor told me what he was going to do and what to expect. Hope this helps you .
Dixie.. thank you so much for the info... I am just so unsure what to do that any advice is appreciated. I understand MM.. I've had this since 2001 and was just diagnosed within the last 2 years... it took so long to figure it out and once they did I didn't know anything about it.. but I have learned so much mostly from this board thank god. My ENT is based in Milwaukee Wisconsin and is supposed to be ranked one of the top surgeons around so I do trust him... but yet I have had 3 gent injections... 2 of them that got me about a year of relief but the most recent injection was just in June and my symptoms are back already... and in full force... so frustrating. he now is talking about the vestibular nerve cutting or the possibility of doing another gent injection... or the shunt surgery. My appt with him is this monday and we will discuss my options then. I know I'm not comfortable with the cutting of the nerve as I am aware that if I go bi-lateral then I would be in big trouble... the shunt sounds like it might be a better approach with the 3 gent injections not doing it so far... although I have heard that some ppl may need more than 3 injections to get full results.. but how many is enough?? I know I've had it.. and I'm tired of this horrible horrible beast coming back and as I'm sure you are aware... I WANT IT TO END!! with that being said... I think it's time to stop with the babysteps and proceed with a more radical approach to get the results.. I'm just scared is all.. I worry that if this doesn't work... what will??? again... so frustrating. I work and I have already missed a week... how long was your recovery total do you feel with your shunt surgery? I work in a doctor's office as a receptionist and it's an excellent job which i love and would like some idea of how long i would need to take off. My ENT said we would discuss all that when I am there Monday and we decide which I am doing.. but typically I'm just looking for the norm of what most ppl have had to take off for this surgery. Thank you again for your time.. and I'm so glad for you that you are feeling better.. wish me luck! God Bless GinaMc
GinaMc - I don't have any personal experience, just what I've seen posted on this forum in the past. It seems to work "for a while" for some and then the symptoms come back. I'm not sure I've seen anyone say it worked for a long period of time.
My recovery was unsual than others. Some people will go back to work about 2 weeks after the surgery. But like I said my was different because there were some complations. I had a node that the doctor had to cut away to get to where he had to put the shunt. Well he patched it and I felt real good thaught I could go out and concer the world Well I was wrong about that. Not even 6 weeks after the first surgery I had to go in and have another surgery. To patch the hole that was there. Well like I said mine was an unusal case. But After the second one I was out of work for a while just because of the doctor didnt want any thing elts to happen to me. Every one is different. But if you do get it done listen to your docotr and take it easy after the surgery. Even if you think you can go out and concer the world you wont be able to do that for a while. You know I cant even do that now. LOL GOod luck in what ever you decide.
I have bilateral shunts that were done in 1992...I would do them again in a heartbeat...They are also way less destructive than any of the other surgeries..best of luck and email me if you have any questions.. kaye
I had shunt surgery in Feb of this year and so far, so good. I still get the dizzies, but nothing like before and not a bit of nausea or vertigo for 7 1/2 months. I would suggest doing all the research you can on it - knowledge is power. I was told tht it works about 2/3 of the time and the duration of the successes varies widely. You often hear that it will only last 2 to 5 years, but I haven't seen any empirical data that supports that. It's generally considered the next step before having the nerve section surgery. Danny (Tuck) is a great source of info on the vestibular nerve section. There is some discomfort from the surgery - not too bad for most it seems and in general it seems like it takes about a month afterwards for people to return to 'normal'. I went to the House Ear clinic in LA for my surgery and I would do it again. I hope I don't have to, but if it comes down to it, I'd give it another shot before I got the VNS. You also might want to research the VNS surgery. I was told that they've done that surgery on both ears of people and that they just have to learn to live with no vestibular system, but that's it's been done and people get along fine except in the dark. The bilateral theory to eliminate that surgery may not hold water. Bob W
Thanks again for all the input. I have made a list of things I plan to discuss with my ENT on Monday... I just hope whatever decision is made that it is the right one. I have a feeling he may want to just try another gent injection.. and that's fine if I knew it would work this time but I only got 3 months out of the most recent one and I guess I'm discouraged. It's so hard because for the past 4 days I have felt just awful, and thankfully today I got some relief, then you start to second guess yourself and think.... maybe i'm fine... maybe it was just a bad attack and i might not get one again for another 3 months... but I know that in the back of my mind... with every waking moment I will be thinking about the "next time"... and I just can't do that anymore. I have to do something to somewhat help cure this, if there is such a thing. I worry that the older I get the worse it will get and eventually I will end up losing my job and fighting for disability.. I'm 40 years old and I have at least another 20 some years left to work and don't want to give up now.... again... my frustrations... I will definitely seek out all my options before making a decision on Monday. I hate the wondering of what I will feel like when I open my eyes in the morning.. I'm sure you all can relate to that. thank you again for the information... i'm so thankful to have you all to listen to and to lean on. GinaMc
Gina, I have had 2 shunt sugeries. I have had no problems with the surgeries and the hearing was wonderful while it lasted. Some people it last for years, unfortunately mine only lasted a year. I would do it again, just to get a year of normal life; it is worth it. I had no dizziness or feeling unbalanced. For me....I would have liked it to last longer. I am bi-lateral and Menieres started in my right ear 20 years ago and now it is in my left; so I would reframe from having the nerve cut unless there is no other way.
Gina: posted this 5 years ago at 10:00 pm. Just saying our advice may be a little late. God bless. I had had everything but a bullet to head to stop this shit, only way for me was destruction.
Yes, they did the shunt surgery in the same ear. The mastiod bone was already removed therefore it was easier the second time around. It took me about 3 days before I could hear good. The only thing is that if you have surgery 1 time a year for this kind of thing, the cost of it really gets in your pocket. Like I said if Doc thought it would work; I would do it again
oh wow...I didn't look at the date. I guess she has probably made a decision...yes! We all have those decisions to make, I am looking at a colhear implant now. I have to get more info before this surgery.
Yes both were I believe sucessful. I got about 1 year and 1 month out of the first one and exactly 1 year out of the second one before my hearing started suffering again. I have had decreasing hearing since last july 2010 (last shunt sugery) and on and off with steriods/During my time after shunt sugeries, I had very good balance, hearing was good (for me) and social activities was normal. As you all know, social activities are deminished when you can not hear what is going on. My hearing is getting bad enough now, a cohlear implant is suggested. But all in all I was very happy with the shunts.
I had an ESD sac decompression surgery 2 years ago, and I can say that before the surgery I was sick all the time, couldn't do anything....6 mo. after the surgery I have been vertigo free ever since.....kinda feel weird now but I hope it is not vertigo around the corner....I just jope it's sinus, stress or whatever but not vertigo coming back...keep my fingers crossed and knock on wood. lol
