Hello, I am new to this forum. Writing on behalf of my sister. She was first diagnosed with tongue cancer in July�06. At the time had minor surgery followed by ~ 35 IMRT treatments. Her cancer returned in Nov�09. She had a full glossectomy, along with removal of larynx and lymph nodes both sides, end of Dec�09.

The one thing she did not expect is that she has a significant loss of hearing. Six weeks after surgery and she says her hearing is about 60% of what it was. I have read other posts tying hearing loss to Cisplatin, but she has never had any chemo. I believe radiation can cause hearing loss, but she had the radiation 3 1/2 years ago, and no problems with hearing until the surgery last December.

A week after the operation, I asked her surgeon about it and he was puzzled. He said none of the drugs she was given in the hospital (inc. antibiotics) was known to cause hearing loss. She had the surgery at Stanford Medical Center and her surgeon has done hundreds of similar operations.

So the current thinking is that swelling in the neck, which she still has a fair amount of, may be pressing on the Eustachian tubes and causing this. I would like to be able to reassure her, but I can�t find any hard evidence that this is the case.

Does anyone have a similar experience or explanation? Many thanks.