Share review of Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital

Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital 2023-04-25 Person 5 5 0

I was diagnosed with Otosclerosis in both ears and had a successful left stapedectomy over 10 years. Prior to the stapes surgery my hearing deteriorated significantly including the onset of tinnitus. Even after the successful surgery, i was really apprehensive about getting the right ear done because of the risks (hearing loss and tinnitus). Fast forward to end of 2022 where my right ear deteriorated further and i seriously started thinking about stapes surgery in my right ear but again the worry about complications was pushing me away. I then saw Dr Patel who put me at ease and was very confident that the procedure would be a success. With a combination of Dr Patels calmness, confidence, the number of successful procedures he has performed and under the stewardship of Mr Lavy, i decided to go ahead with the procedure. The days leading to the operation were challenging and filled with more worry (what happens if it doesn’t work and makes things worse) but i kept to my original decision to get the procedure done. The day of the operation was much of the same (worry) but seeing Dr Patel before the operation, allayed any fears and i went ahead with operation. I was under sedation but after the operation, Dr Patel came to see me and was very happy, confirming the operation was a success and advised to take it easy and come back in a couple of weeks to remove the packing. The post op period was again challenging as you’re advised not to do anything too strenuous and generally take it easy. You’re given some drops to use to prevent an infection and will generally hear some weird sounds (different to tinnitus). I personally suffered from dizziness for a good 1.5 weeks and at times i couldnt stand up but luckily it got alot better. So, the day to remove the packing came, seemed like it took forever to get to this stage but out it came and the ear healed perfectly and no additional drops needed. A word of advice, (some may have the opposite effect to me) dont expect your hearing to be improved 100% after the packing comes out, its gone through a massive trauma and will take time to improve. After the packing was removed, i was told to come back in 6 weeks, key thing is to make sure it remains dry and again take it easy. Fast forward to 6 weeks… got a new hearing test completed and Mr Patel’s words.. “this is excellent, massive improvement”. It felt surreal that my right ear has got to a position where the hearing had improved. Hopefully theyll be more improvement as time goes on but im very grateful to be in this position. So if you’re on the fence, worried, you have every right but with Dr Patel you are in very safe hands, their success rate is second to none and the clinic has done thousands of these procedures. Improve the quality of your life and get it done.