John,

My mom is about 7 weeks post-radiation, and she had a very difficult time with pain and pressure in her ear. She also had chemo- Cisplatin, which we now understand can cause some ear side effects. The doctors seem to think most of her fluid problems were caused by the radiation, though.

Anyway, she was having pain, pressure, and loss of hearing in her left ear. She finally got to see the ear specialist who determined that the eustacian tubes were not functioning properly and she had fluid built up in her ears. They put in tubes and suctioned the fluid right there in the office. Mom said it was somewhat uncomfortable during the procedure, but she got almost immediate relief from the symptoms!

She was so relieved as she was also having dizziness and feelings of "being in a fog" caused by all this fluid build-up.

I'm not sure if this is relevant to your situation, but she is doing sooo much better since she got this taken care of, that I felt I had to share her experience.

Good luck and God bless,
Laura