2nd CI Surgery Update

Well I guess I should post about recovery and all that is going to follow. This was an interesting and long surgery. To start off my surgery lasted an hour and a half longer than expected. The surgeon found an unexpected surprise when he got inside my head that will affect some things, but makes me glad that I did go ahead with the second surgery.

When the surgeon was inserting the electrode into my cochlea (he was using the S array, long electrode array manufactured by Med-El) he ran into a slight problem. The electrode would not go all the way into the cochlea. He tried several times but it turns out that I have some ossification in my left cochlea (bony growth) that prevented full insertion. So eventually he switched out and used the M electrode (shorter array but still has 12 electrodes on it). He was able to get 11 out of the 12 electrodes on this array inserted in my cochlea. So overall the effects on me....well I will not have access to all the frequencies that I have with my other implant...but that is okay because I have them with the other implant.

The benefits...well primarily I am glad I did not "SAVE THE EAR" for later technology because chances are I would not have been able to be implanted in 10-15 years as the ossification would have continued. So I am glad I decided to get this done now.

In the meantime....recovery is going well...no pain. I have only had to take tylenol for any discomfort. The nurses were shocked in the hospital. I had the same nurses this time as last time, and last time I was not a pretty sight. After the first surgery I was on a morphine drip, demirol, and percocet. This time I was just taking tylenol. I was up walking around the unit...I was bored and tired of being trapped in the bed. I even asked the resident if the doctor did anything to my head...she laughed and said "oh he did something...I watched." I responded with okay...well it doesn't hurt this time and she just laughed.

Anyways I am passing the time until Monday when I get this bandage cut off my head and I am activated. I am curious to see how activation goes this time since the electrode array is inserted differently than the other one. I am just glad I have a doctor who was able to change things up during surgery and use the shorter array giving me more electrodes instead of staying with the longer one and having fewer electrodes firing off.

The surgeon brought my audiologist in while I was still on the table and had her test the newly inserted implant to determine the response. My brain did fire off a positive response, which is good. Both my surgeon and audiologist feel that I will do well with this implant as I have done extremely well with the first one.

Well I am off of here for now...but when I get the chance later today I will post some pictures from the hospital.

Lauren