Patricia --

If you got cisplatin, you should have been told that this drug causes hearing changes in about 60% of the people who take it and in a smaller percentage, these changes are long-lasting or even permanent. This most common complaint is permanent high-end hearing loss, as well as ringing in the ears which may improve over time.

My husband was given carboplatin at Hopkins becasue he already had a high-end hearing loss (due to infections as a kid) and they did not want this to be exacerbated. Carbo- works the same as cis- but has far less ototoxicity (about 3-5%). We had already found this out before meeting with the oncologist but she agreed with our concerns as soon as she heard about Barry's hearing issues.

Also, the radiation oncologist said that radiation to the inner ear can also cause hearing damage, so he tries to avoid as much as possible radiation to the inner ear.

They also did a hearing test before and after treatment, and one about 6 month's out. Only very small changes and these could have been due to normal aging.

Gail