I'm Activated!

And now for the big day we've all been waiting for:  activation!  Tom and Noah went with me to experience it all first-hand.  While there were a lot of things that happened during my visit that I could talk about, I will cut right to the chase and get to the point where my cochlear implant was turned on and I could hear.

Tom took a series of short videos (all roughly a minute or less) and I've been trying to get them pieced together so there would only be one.  I've exhausted my time and energy on it today and since I know I have friends and family anxious to watch them, I'll just post them separately.  They are in sequential order, starting with the first time I heard someone speaking, the audiologist.

My initial reaction

Tom talks to me to see if I can understand him

Nails clicking on desktop are crisp and clear

Can you hear me?

Everyone sounds like a high-pitched computer voice

More follow-up appointments

I had two follow-up appointments at my ENT's office this past week.  The first one was on Monday with the nurse and the second one was with the doctor on Friday.  Rather than bore you with all the details, I'll just tell you about the main issues.

My hair keeps getting stuck in the scabbing and the tissue as the incision heals.  Every time I visit the ENT office they have to pull the hairs out one by one and that is a little painful. At the time of my first visit on Monday my incision still had some scabbing, which was not what they want, so that was removed also.  There was a conflict between the hospital and the ENT clinic on how to care for the wound. The discharge nurse's written instructions were to clean the wound 3 times a day with a wash of half hydrogen peroxide and half water and then apply a prescribed ointment.  The ENT staff said the wash dries out the wound, causing it to scab, which hinders the healing process. 

On Monday I was put back on antibiotics because my wound was still red and they wanted to ward off an infection.  Part of what hindered my healing, besides the "wash", were my glasses.  If I wore my contacts I needed my reading glasses on to read.  If my contacts were out then I wore my regular glasses.  I tried positioning them so the stem wouldn't rub against my incision, but no matter how I tried to finagle it, they always slipped back to where they naturally want to sit. I tried putting gauze over my incision, but my glasses would eventually push it away. It's been sore, especially on days where the scabbing was removed. 

By the time I saw the doctor on Friday, the incision looked a lot better.  But, I had fluid behind my ear canal so I will be going back once again (and hopefully for the last time) on Dec. 12.  

The good news is that none of these small details will affect my activation. I am set for 2:00 on Tuesday, less than 48 hours from now.  I'm getting more excited the more I think about it.  I'm tired of hearing out of only one ear.  It's exhausting!  

Next blog entry will be post-activation and will be the most exciting one yet.  Check back soon for that update.

An Angry Ear

As you can probably imagine, there isn't a lot to report on during this long waiting period until my activation date.  This past week I had my first follow-up appointment with the surgeon's nurse to make sure my incision and ear canal look good.  My stitches were removed, but I had more scabbing than they would like to see so I will be going back this Monday to make sure I am healing properly.  The nurse also looked in my ear canal.  She said it looked "angry".  I thought, yeah, well..I guess I'd be angry too if someone gutted my insides out.  She saw dry blood and irritation so I have to put some ointment in my ear each night to calm it down. I told her I had been experiencing a really sharp pain in my inner ear on occasion, but it only lasted a couple of seconds.  I have to confess that my negligence might have contributed to the pain because I blew my nose a few times before realizing that is a big no-no.  If I'd only read the discharge papers thoroughly I would have known not to do this.  Oops.

I left the doctor's office with the okay to wash my hair, but to be careful near the wound. Boy, did it feel good to take a shower (I had been taking baths). It was as if I reentered the land of the living.

I still catch myself reaching behind my ear where the incision is as if to adjust my hearing aid.  Sometimes my finger pokes a tender spot and I jerk my hand away.  Maybe I do this to make sure I still have an ear. 

There are only ten days to activation.  Let the countdown begin!

One Week Post-Surgery

Meet the newest addition to our family - Koki.  Okay, I know it's a little odd for a middle-aged woman to leave the hospital with a stuffed Koala Bear, especially one with fake cochlear implants, but my surgeon is a pediatric doctor who happens to also perform cochlear implant surgeries for adults as well.  So I went along with it when I was handed the little koala on my wheelchair ride out of the hospital.  You may be wondering why a koala bear.  My device is made by Cochlear America, which is headquartered in Australia.  So there you go.

I'm one week out from surgery and I can tell I am healing because it doesn't hurt to wear my glasses anymore.  That is a big relief since I'm getting old now and need reading glasses.  I still have a weird metallic-type taste on the left side of my tongue.  It makes salty food taste even saltier, kind of making salty chips yucky right now.  I still have a bruise near my left eyebrow and on the top of my left shoulder.  I also have a small sore spot on my forehead, like a small knot.  My jaw is also sore so I'm staying away from hard-to-chew foods. I don't know what the doctor did to me during surgery, but maybe it's best not to know?  

I was implanted with Cochlear America's CI 422 Slim Straight array, which was designed to leave residual hearing.  The other day I was patting my face dry after washing it and when I got close to my left ear I heard a high-pitched sound in that ear.  I take this as a positive sign that some of my hearing remains intact.  This is encouraging, but I won't know for sure until I have my hearing tested in that ear before the CI is activated.  

Yesterday I washed 3/4 of my hair for the first time since surgery.  Boy, was that a relief!  I thought I was going to lose my mind from having matted hair and an itchy scalp.  Today I left the house for the first time too.  And just when you thought my life couldn't get any more exciting (insert sarcastic laugh), I had an interesting experience driving home from the store.  I rolled the windows down because it was such a beautiful day.  Okay, that's not entirely true.  Yes, it was a beautiful day, but the real truth was I had a hot flash.  But, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because by driving with the windows rolled down I discovered a bonus to having a cochlear implant -- no ear pressure.  Before my surgery I couldn't roll both front windows down in my car because the pressure would make them hurt.  Not to mention would render me unable to hear anything other than the excruciating sound of what felt like a tornado whipping in one ear and out the other.  So driving with the windows rolled down is a bonus perk!  Kinda like finding bonus fries at the bottom of your fast-food sack (Jim Gaffigan fans will know my reference here!)