[spirited174]

I'm in a total panic- help! I'm scheduled for my surgery on Tuesday- just 3 days away. I woke up this morning and my ear is actually swollen shut! I called the ENT on call- he is prescribing an antibiotic. These couple of weeks on liquids have been kinda rough. Will this ear issue stop my surgery? I already have DH taking time off work, kids ready,etc.

[greensgirl19]

It might be fine if you start antibiotics ASAP. Do you have a fever? They usually take 1-2 days to help with symptoms, but it's gonna come down to what your doc says. We have people all the time who are on antibiotics or just got off of them for different reasons. We don't do gastric bypass or elective abdominal surgery, though. It stinks that this happened so close to surgery AND on a weekend, but you need to contact your bypass doc. Let him know you are going to be getting on antibiotics, but he is the ONLY person who can tell you for sure if he'll do it or not. If you really want to know, have his answering service notify him to call you back.

[DocSanae]

Yes, you need to let your surgeon know what's going on, and it is his call. However, antibiotics in itself shouldn't stop the surgery, as you will be given one post op for a few days to prevent infections, but--not to scare you but--the extent of your ear infection may, if it doesn't improve with your scripted meds. If the infection gets better, it probably will be okay, but the surgeon has to know and decide.
((((((HUGS))))) Good luck.

[ragdolldude]

You may need to be evaluated at your local ER. I had an issue with a hearing loss in one ear, several months post op. No temps, just could not hear well out of right ear. Went urgent card of my insurance, got a referral instantly to an ear, throat and nose doctor. He "scoped" my ear, said it looked like a fungus was starting. Had a nurse irrigate my ear with distilled water and hydrogen peroxide and some black and white stuff came out of my ear with the irrigation solutione. Could hear right away after that. A phone call may not resolve the issue as quicly as a visit to an attending physician. Oh, no abitiotics needed in my case either. DAVE

[MsVickie]

After working for a ENT Dr for over 7 years I would really suggest you go to the ER and let them place a wick in your ear. Let me explain this. Your ear is so swollen right now ear drops wont go down where they need to be. So they will place a small white piece that looks like a candle wick in a tiny space and then have you place drops so it soaks it up on the wick and down into the ear. This is for your comfort trust me. When arriving at the ER they will call the ENT on call and ask him either what to do or have them come see you. This should not interfere with your surgery however if the infection causes a fever it will. The ear wick placement is painless and it will fall out within a day or two. Please be good to yourself and get this checked. Im not saying you PCP dont know what they are doing but I have seen many ears left unchecked and antibotics called in and it just gets worse. Im talking very severe pain.

[MsVickie]

Dave to respond to your issue you had. Yes lordy how many ears we cleaned and you wouldnt belive the stuff that will come out of them. Some people have very small ear canals. They can be very big people with very small canals. Most of us extract our own wax........ aka its expels it for us but some cannot and have to have them cleaned. Most of the time when your ear is stopped up and not in pain its due to wax that has gotten against the drum and needs to be suctioned out or removed.

One of the Drs I worked for at the time before he retired wrote a paper on hearing loss. He said he felt like it was probally one of the worst handicaps to have. Think about it........ you cant hear nothing. Im glad they could treat your ear appropiately like they did.