Perforated Eardum: Another surgery?

Hello everyone,

I've had a long history of ear problems.  After having strep throat six times in one year as a child, tubes were placed in my ears to help reduce middle ear infections.  It’s common that after tubes fall out a small hole is left in the eardrum.  I fell into the small percentage of people that are left with a hole that increases over time.  

When I was eight years old, the perforation that was originally the size of a pinhead increased until it was half the size of my eardrum.  I had reconstructive surgery (tympanoplasty) that was unsuccessful.  I continued to see an ENT specialist over the years, but was told there was little that could be done.  I learned to live with the hole and was always careful not to get water in my ears.

I’m now 25, and other than slight hearing loss and occasional ear infections, I’ve been fine over the years.  The perforation has remained about 20% the size of my eardrum.  I just visited a specialist yesterday that left me feeling optimistic.  I was impressed by his credentials, and he believes he can fix the hole with a simple inpatient myringoplasty procedure.  He explained how the scar tissue around the hole could be scraped to allow new skin growth, and then a thin paper patch could be placed over the hole to simulate a scaffold for the new skin to grow over.  I was told that the procedure could be done in about 20 minutes, and if the graft is successful, it could restore my hearing.

Have any of you undergone this procedure?  I’ve been doing research and have been finding mixed results about the success rates of myringoplasty.  I would greatly appreciate hearing about your experiences with the procedure, or any advice that you might have.

Thank you!
Brad