Doc Hashisaki replaced the last stapes in my left ear. I was so afraid that they wouldn't do it, like the doc in Baton Rouge didn't about 10 years ago. I could hear pretty good through the dressing and all for about the first hour until things swelled up a bit and kinda blocked it. Couldn't hear anything in my right ear for a week after Doc Zenker did it about 25 years ago. Then, I had bionic hearing for about 6 weeks until my brain turned the volume down. It's still doing fine.
Ralph
The naked gardener
God's original intent
P.S. Limited gardening the next couple weeks and no bowling. Can't lift more than 10 #. Time for maintenance and watering stuff.
You have the hammer, anvil and stirrup stapes bone connecting the ear drum to the cochlea. In a stapendectomy, they flap the ear drum aside, go in and replace the last stapes connected to the cochlea with a prosthesis. It's one of the first micro surgeries performed. Before micros, they had to cut into your head behind the ear, a major operation.
The three bones within your ear that are responsible for producing the sound you are able to hear are the malleus (aka hammer), incus (aka anvil), and stapes (aka stirrup). As has been stated, microsurgery (in this case a Stapedectomy)is a much better alternative to an "open" case, which would call for a larger (and more painful and obvious) incision. Basically the body of the stapes is removed and a prosthesis is attached to the footplate (kind of like the stump of a tree is left when you chop it down) and connects into the oval window within your ear.
