Surgery Update

Here it is already two days post-surgery and I am recovering quite well.  The surgery was a success!  The doctor tested the device to make sure it worked okay and apparently it does so that is a good sign.

The doctor made a roughly 3-inch incision behind my ear running up my head.  I left the hospital wearing a contraption that looks like a breast cup on my ear with a headband going around the edge of my hairline.  It was a novelty at first and quickly became more of an irritant as it became itchy.  But, hey, headbands are popular again, aren't they?

The pain was quite mild so I only needed to take one pain pill.  I try to not take any more than I really need.  I will continue to take antibiotics for 10 days to ward off an infection.  I didn't have any balance or dizziness issues at first, but I am feeling slightly off today for some reason.  My jaw is sore so it is a little difficult to eat some foods.  I'll be eating more Jello it looks like and the best food of all for a soft-food diet -- ice cream!  The left side of my mouth feels a little weird, kind of like a constant metallic taste.  It hasn't affected the way food tastes, but it's constantly there.

Tom's doing a great job at playing nurse, cleaning my wound three times a day.  We both expected a bigger shaved patch of hair around the incision, but you really can't see anything.  I have too much hair!  I guess in this case that is a good thing.  I have to keep the area dry.  I can't wash my hair for 10 days.  Yep, that's right -- 10 days!!  It's only 2 days post-op and I'm feeling itchy and would love to wash my hair and scrub away.  I only have to wait 8 days for that.  Whenever I think it's bad all I need to do is remember how nasty things were when I recovered from my tonsillectomy in 2008.  This is nothing compared to feeling like you are gargling shards of glass every time you swallow.

My left ear feels like something is missing since I've been wearing a hearing aid with an ear mold for the last 20 years.  In some ways it feels like my ear isn't even there anymore.  It is a hard sensation to describe. 

I have two follow-up visits with my doctor (the surgeon).  The activation date is set for November 25, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  My audiologist from St. Luke's Hearing and Balance will be doing my mappings for me (that's what they call the programming of the cochlear implant processor.  She'll map my processor according to my audiogram).  Until this time, I will only be able to hear out of my right ear.  Like everything else in this journey, it will take some getting used to.  My new way of hearing is a work in progress and I'm only in the beginning phase.  Stay tuned for more.