anyone here had the vestibular nerve section?

Happy to share my experience.

I've had this crap since 2004. In 2009, I tried the shunt surgery, which was a complete failure. Vertigo returned 3 weeks after surgery. Prior to the VNS, my attacks were horrific. My OTO said that in his 44 years of practice, my attacks were the worst he'd ever seen. Yay me! :/ I was in and out of the ER every month. 12-16 hour vomit cycles, spinning, nystagmus, the works.

My last horrific attack was in March of 2010. After 14 hours of spinning and throwing up, my brother found me on the floor of my bathroom, unable to move. My limbs had gone numb, and I couldn't speak. He was an EMT at the time, and knew that something was terribly wrong. He rushed me to the ER, where they immediately put an oxygen mask on me. They wheeled me back to a room, but before I got there, I began to have a seizure. A SEIZURE! My limbs all curled inward, and I started shaking uncontrollably. This had NEVER happened before. They ran some tests, and found that I was so low and depleted of potassium, from both my diuretic and from throwing up, that I was in danger of having a heart attack. They put IV's of potassium in me, and I had to spend the night in the hospital to be monitored. My OTO rushed to the hospital to check on me, and it was then and there that I said, "I need to have the VNS."

Two weeks later, I had the surgery. It wasn't the easiest of recoveries, but it was far better than having vertigo every other week. I lost a little bit more hearing from the surgery, but it wasn't terrible. I still have usable hearing in that ear. I went back to work at 7 weeks post-op. The biggest victory for me was traveling to Europe 6 months after surgery, completely vertigo free and happy!

I do not have any regrets about having surgery. I went from being nearly completely disabled, to working full time, graduating with my second college degree, and traveling around the world post-surgery.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. Happy to share anything I can to help. Wishing you the best of luck!

 

Immediate recovery was tough-but not impossible. You can do it!

You will most likely wake up with vertigo, but being in the hospital, they can help control it with meds that will make you sleep. When I woke up the second time, the vertigo was gone!

I did physical therapy every day for three months. Took me a couple weeks to be able to move from a walker, to a cane, to finally walking on my own. Went back to work part time at 7 weeks, full time at 9 weeks post-surgery.

I was walking and riding bikes around Europe 6 months after my surgery.

The VNS is no walk in the park, but would I do it again? 100%!

Best of luck. Email with any specific questions.

 

Shelly92 - just wanted to wish you best of luck and speediest recovery from your upcoming surgery. I have not had the surgery but believe that after going thru the attacks that we suffer from, the preparation is already done and I don't think there is anything worse. With the surgery, you KNOW that you will be working towards a recovery goal; you KNOW that you will not just get through "this one" you will be done with this stinkin disease. You got this!

 

I also want to wish you the best in your upcoming surgery. I agree with nicmger, the preparation is already done. Recovery cannot possibly be as bad as living with this monster of a disease for the rest of your life. We will all be waiting to hear your progress reports and will be here to cheer you on toward success!