Joanna was qouting the statistics for total deafness involving Cisplatin. I had the same childhood issues as coop, infections, etc. I am also a musican and bassplayer and have spent many years next to a 120 dB ride cymbal. I had Cisplatin and my hearing actually improved, especially the midrange. I had three hearing tests during chemo, one of them was a baseline which should always be done if you are on Cisplatin. There are definable warning symptoms if you are in the 1 percentile group so, like in Joannas case, they were able to switch her to carboplatin which is a less toxic relative of Cisplatin. I had hearing problems for a long time post rad due to radiation damage to the eustacian tubes. It eventually all healed up and everything is back to normal (well the "new mormal"). But for a while I had a lot of pressure buildup and pain. It even showed up on the MRI's.

Cisplatin remains one of the most effective adjuncts to radiation so don't be hasty to rule it out. Most people don't have serious problems with it. And the antiemetics work pretty well these days.

In the latest survey, MDACCC was the top ranked NCI/NCCN CCC. MSKCCC was #2. The site has the rankings.