MVD Diary - Charlotte McKinney
Monday, July 30, 2001 - Date of Departure:
My granddaughter and I on our way to Pittsburgh, PA. I have taken a year and did all my homework such as checking on doctors and hospitals to see who had the best track record doing the MVD surgery. I didn't have to check to far to finally decide that the right doctor was Dr. Kassam and his team at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. We arrived at one of the guest houses and were given a nice room on the 6th floor. After we checked in we went shopping for food.Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - Pre-surgery Testing:
Arrived at Presbyterian Hospital to have all my tests done. They weren't to bad. I met two wonderful women that were also having the surgery done,one the same day as mine and the other the day after. We all went through our testing together and held each other up when we started to get scared.Wednesday, August 1, 2001 "MVD-Day":
The big day. I am a little worried and I have this gut feeling not to go ahead with the surgery but then decide to do it. After all I drove all this way and I am so tired of my face going into spasms. I arrive at the hospital at 5:39 AM and am admitted and then taken to a large room where there are a lot of people waiting. My name is called and I am off the get ready for surgery. I am given a gown and put on a table to wait. A few minutes later I am being wheeled in to a room and they start the IV. I am starting to get scared but don't want to show it so I tell myself it is going to be fine and I have put it in the Lords hands and I know I will come through this thing with no problems at all. I am then wheeled into the operating room and put to sleep. I am woke up by people asking me questions like how many fingers am I holding up? Well to tell the truth I saw at least ten hands on this one doctor and the room was spinning so fast. I think I asked someone if they could knock me out as I didn't want to live like that. The pain in my head was indescribable. I have never felt pain like that before in my life, and I have had lots of pain from being scalded with hot coffee on my back to a ruptured appendix to hemorrhoid surgery.Friday, August 3, 2001 - Two Days Post-op:
Well the room stopped spinning after two days, but then I couldn't focus my eyes. It was like they were bouncing in my head. To my horror the second day I also noticed I was deaf in my MVD ear and the noises were so bad I wanted to scream but I couldn't do that either as the tube they put down my throat did something and it was hard for me to talk. A physical therapist came to my room to help me walk which was very hard to do as my balance was so far gone I was sure it never would get better. I stayed in the hospital for three days then was released. So here I am with no balance/deaf/and so much noise in my ear I have to try to talk over it which isn't easy because I am very hoarse. Food is very tasteless and I can't eat. I can't walk without someone holding onto me and I'm thinking what did I do, trade my spasms for all of this? Now I'm saying I should have never had it done. Everything is such a struggle.Tuesday, August 7, 2001 - Six Days Post-op:
I get my stitches out and am told my hearing will come back. It seems they lost it but it came back, and they said I could hear after surgery. I go and have the hearing test done before I leave Pittsburgh and, according to the audiologist, I have no hearing at all. I am devastated of course because now I can't sing in the choir like I used to. Nothing sounds the same and I just want to go home.September 2001 - One Month Post-op:
Still struggling to walk. The landscape just seems to bounce up and down. Still need assistance while walking. Still have so much noise in my ear. Still can't taste food.November 2001 - Three Months Post-op:
Went back to work and have to lean against the wall for balance. Still having trouble walking. Food tastes better, and still all this noise.January 2002 - Five Months Post-op:
It has been Five months since my surgery and the noise in my ear/head is just too much to take. It's like a steam engine in my head along with chalk on the blackboard sounds with every word that I hear. So, back to Pittsburgh I go to see what can be done. I am given medication to try and they think it will all clear up in time. The medication did nothing but make me tired.July 2002 - Ten Months Post-op:
My hearing is not back yet, and I'm not sure it will return. I still have the noise in my ear/head. The only thing that has gotten better is my balance and I thank God for that. I can't sing, listen to music or play the television because it causes my ear/head to just roar real loud. But sometimes if I put plugs in my good ear, I can listen to it. Forget church, public gatherings or loud restaurants, I can't go to them. Singing that I so enjoyed is out of the question. Will I get any better? I don't think so. It seems that 6 months is the dead line for improvement if there is going to be any. Would I do it again? Not on your life. And am I spasm free? NO. I have just been blessed with eye spasms that draw my lower lid to the corner of my eye and stays there a few seconds and the worst jumping nerve under my eye. But I thank God for my life, it could have been so much worse.
October 21, 2002 - Fourteen Months Post-op:
I just had my hearing checked and it is in fact gone. The noises are the same, they range from hissing/chirping/ringing/night sounds/metal on metal, and now I have pulsating Tinnitus in my right ear. Surgery was not a good choice for me as this is much harder to live with then the spasms were. And, the spasms remain.