Oz,

I apologize for not seeing this earlier. I have not been very active here the last week or 10 days -- been busy managing treatments and side effects and nausea and the rest and just haven't been on here as often as I should.

As you may recall, I had severe tinnitus as a result of the Cisplatin, enough that I felt I was unable to concentrate properly and severe enough that there was some concern regarding my overall cognition. As I think I recorded in my post at the time, I didn't actually know, at the time, that I was not thinking entirely clearly, nor was I responding to people in a manner that gave my oncologist confidence in the treatment. Obviously, I may be an extreme case. Nonetheless, after some significant deliberation, two audiologist consultations, an ENT consultation and a phone call from my oncologist to the doctor at the Cleveland Cancer Center that conducted one of the Cisplatin vs. Carboplatin-Tqxol studies that are often looked at, my oncologist decided to switch me and assured me that her confidence in cure was as high with the switch,

What I do know is that Carboplatin does not incur the same level of Tinnitus side-effect as Cisplatin and I know that since the switch I have seen my hearing loss stabilize and my tinnitus symptoms arrested. Although it is extremely difficult to measure, I am fairly certain that the tinnitus has also faded or reversed to some degree. I was told before Cisplatin that that could be the case and I hope so very much that it is the case for you: that after treatment and over time some of the tinnitus may go away for you naturally.

During the worst of the tinnitus week, my ENT prescribed a steroid that has some history of helping with tinnitus as well as grape seed oil (which has no clinical support but does have some empirical evidence in helping with tinnitus). Did any of bees things actually work? We're not sure, but I am glad that I was perhaps a bit lucky.

Please, please ask your CCC for an audiologist consultation. It may be too late to establish a good baseline, but if this is something that is worrying you, and more importantly, if it is effecting your ability to think, sleep, function, etc., then it is VERY real and your team, at large, needs to be aware. They may have already determined that Carboplatin will not be effective relative to your treatment needs, and I certainly don't want to advocate you do anything that may jeopardize your treatment, but I also know how debilitating the Cisplatin side-effects were for me and would not wish them on you, my down-under-brother-from-another-mother.

Talk to an Audiologist - at least get them thinking now about ways they can start to mitigate the effects -- I don't know if time is a factor, but if it is, get started now.

We're so very nearly done, my brother, and we will, both of us, make it through. I hope this tinnitus is just a minor bump in your life journey -- get started on it now!

I hope you are otherwise well! Please let us know what happens, please keep your head up -- we finish this out this week!

The Hellion