Cholesteatoma 

A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with having a cholesteatoma which is a rare tumour-like growth inside the ear. If left unchecked, it can be life-threatening.

On the one hand, I was relieved to have a definitive diagnosis, because my ear had been giving me troubles for quite some time. On the other hand, I was scared and unsure of what this really meant.

The doctor told me that I’d need surgery and set me up to come back for a CT scan. He sounded confident and not worried at all that he could remove it with no issues, but as someone who struggles with anxiety, of course I didn’t just leave it at that…

As soon as I got home, I started searching online for more information. It seemed like everywhere I looked, all I found were horror stories about growths that had spread too far or surgeries that had gone wrong… honestly, I let the whole situation control me and it affected my thoughts, my mood, and my productivity. That’s anxiety for you… but that’s another blog post entirely :)

Anyway, I wanted to share my experience for anyone else who might be in a similar situation. My story (at least so far) has a much happier outcome so hopefully it can help balance out the negative stories out there.

Please note that I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone who has had negative experiences due to having this issue. I certainly sympathize and hope that one day there will be a way to prevent or more easily remove these growths.

For those interested, stay tuned and in my next blog post, I’ll outline the symptoms that I experienced.