Did anyone lose some hearing after chemotherapy?

Hello @cris2. My husband had cisplatin a few years ago for bladder cancer. He had very slight hearing loss from frequent middle ear infections but by the end of his chemo his hearing was slipping more. He visited the audiologist regularly and finally has gotten hearing aids within the past year. I believe his history and age and cisplatin have all contributed to his hearing loss. How is your husband managing?

He’s done with treatments, so that’s a relief. They told him he would need a hearing aid, so we will be checking into those.
Today he has hiccups most of the day, he’s had them before too, so annoying.

Yes I lost some hearing but nothing terrible

Persistent hiccups can be horrible! My husband had them for 10 days after his biggest surgery. They would stop for less than an hour then back, night and day. There are several drugs to try for this, so if his becomes a chronic problem, make sure to consult doctors until you get relief. We waited too long and the Urology team kept saying they would stop on their own. It turns out Anesthesia was the team to consult.

My husband also experienced hearing loss after chemotherapy with cisplatin. He now has hearing aids. He did experience bouts f hiccups that would occur. They do go away, but his were frequent but not anywhere near constant.

Dear Chris2,

I want to share an excerpt from my former partner Kathleen Watt's recently published memoir "Rearranged: An Opera Singer's Facial Cancer and Life Transposed," about her head & neck cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery -- and specifically regarding the use of cisplatin.

But when Evie discovered the last of the four components of my protocol, cisplatin, could potentially damage my hearing, I was seized with a spasm of patient advocacy. It’s true my return to professional singing after chemo, if it even worked, had begun to seem increasingly remote. So I felt churlish protesting any of my treatment for the sake of singing, especially to this panel of experts on cell-stalking killer-chemicals. But wasn’t I steward of what body parts I had left? I couldn’t let go of my hearing without a fight.

When I objected, my oncologist solemnly explained that we had no choice, that cisplatin was crucial to the protocol known to be most effective against OS. Digging deep, I dared to repeat myself, suggesting, perhaps, a workaround (if such a thing even exists in cancer land). This time he hesitated. Maybe there was something . . .

One consulting physician wrote in his procedural notes, “Cisplatin has significant risk for ototoxicity,” adding, “[but] because she is an opera singer and music is a critical portion of her life, I believe this drug should not be administered to this patient.”

In the end, somehow, Dr. O. was able to rebalance my chemo cocktail to sharply limit my intake of the ototoxic cisplatin. We had, in fact, reached a level of comfort going forward—and it only cost me a little in the high
frequencies.

Update: after almost 30 years post-cisplatin, she was recently fitted for hearing aids. She lost her ability to sing soon after her surgery, and 30 years later, she now has trouble hearing words -- and music.

Takeaway: if your hearing is important to you (and I don't know anyone who would deny its importance), ask your oncologist about the ototoxicity of cisplatin and see if the dosage can be moderated to prevent significant hearing loss.

When my treatment plan was first designed, I was supposed to receive Cisplatin. I already wore hearing aids so my medical oncologist changed my protocol to be a combination of Carboplatin and Taxol. I don't believe I experienced any additional hearing loss, but certainly s minimal amount.

Yes, I experienced some hearing loss, also neuropathy in my hands & feet, which has mostly recovered.