Anthony's Oncology doctor was hoping his hearing would get better on it's own, but it hasn't so a few weeks ago he had him see a specialist. The specialist looked in his ears and said that he was "under water". Brittany posted the following picture to help understand what was happening.
Apparently in Anthony's case, his Eustachian Tubes got swollen shut, they think due to radiation treatments. To quote Brittany, "The tube provided air to the middle ear and ear drum. When there is no air, the middle ear becomes a vacuum and then the membrane begins to leak water. His ear drum fills with water and makes it sound like he is under water. So now comes the solution. The doctor numbed his ear drums (which was actually pretty painful), then he cut a small slit in Tony's[Anthony's] eardrum. Then the most uncomfortable part: he sucked out all of the fluid." After this procedure he could hear again. Hooray! The doctor has been watching with follow-up visits and if it becomes a persistent problem, he may have to put tubes in his ears to keep the passage open and drainage happening.
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