Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | Sorry Chuck but this item has been discussed numerous times. Unfortunately a nasty side effect of the Cisplatin can be permanent hearing loss. I am one that despite their warning I suffered permanent high frequency hearing loss. You should have been warned about that from the start. What is normally told the ones getting Cis which is still the main chemo used, is that IF you hear ringing in your ears notify your chemo doc ASAP. Most will then switch you to Carboplatin which is supposed to be just as effective as Cisplatin but without the nasty side effects. I know, don't ask why they just don't use Carbo to begin with but Carbo has never been tested in the volumes that Cis has so that's why I was told they don't. I assume you were given 3 treatments of Cisplatin as opposed to the 6 weekly doses some have started giving. Anyway back to your question. The ringing you hear is the actual damage being done to your ears and to my knowledge there is no reversing it. Get yourself a hearing test to confirm what damage may have already occurred. Problem for all of us is they don't give us a pre Tx hearing test to establish a baseline and of course they won't take our word that we had perfect hearing going in. After you confirm the damage see if your insurance company will spring for hearing aids assuming you need them now.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
|