The testing was painless. It took about an hour to work thru all of it. The audiologist was kind and gentle. When she was done, she excused herself and indicated Dr. E would be with me shortly.
A few minutes later, a man in a lab jacket and a big smile came in. "I know what you have and I know how to fix it."
He had me walk him through my symptoms and my triggers, how long it had been going on, what seemed to help, what seemed to aggravate it.
"It's called Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence. You have a hole in the bone that runs between the top of your ear and the bottom of the brain. I'm almost positive. I'd like to send you for a CAT scan to confirm that diagnosis. If I'm right, I can fix it with surgery."
A few days later, I laid on a white padded gurney, closed my eyes and slid into a CT machine. Clicking. A Green Light. Clicking and out I slid.
I went home and googled the disorder, and the surgical repair necessary. YIKES. Everything was good until I read, "Gently move the brain aside." It took me several read thru's to get past that part in the medical journals!
Dr. Eisen called me the following Monday. "The radiologist says your CT scan is negative. But when I look at it, I can spot the dehiscence. I can do the surgery, not a problem. It is, however brain surgery and a neurosurgeon will have to assist. It is easy surgery to do for me, but for you it will not be a walk in the park. It involves going into the area above your ear and plugging the hole. I'd also like to resurface the bone. Most people have a bone that is a few millimeters thick. Yours' is paper thin. I think when you sneezed last July, you blew a hole in the bone. The recovery is challenging, but you'll get through it. Come in and visit with me and we can talk more about it. Bring your husband."
Bring my husband? That's never for good news!
The following Monday, my husband and I met with Dr. Eisen. He told us about the surgery. And he patiently answered our questions. He showed me a tiny hole in the bone that was evident in the CAT scan. "You don't have to do this. It's an opportunity to make it better. It won't get better on its own. It could and would most likely get worse."
We went home to think.
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