Is CI An Outpatient Surgery?

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jimisham

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This is my first post on the forum.
I'm going to be evaluated for a CI and have a couple of questions.
I have read that it is an outpatient operation that takes about 3 or 4 hours, and doesn't require a hospital stay overnight. Is this correct?
Do they discourage driving the same day of the operation? We will have to drive about 90 miles to get home and my wife does not like to drive on the freeway.
Thanks for any replies.
 
Welcome to AD! :)

CI surgery takes about 2-3 hours to complete and is an outpatient procedure -- although some people may choose to stay overnight. In my case, my surgeon requested that I stay overnight so he could monitor me for signs of dizziness. I don't know the answer to your question about driving. Perhaps someone else on the forum knows...

Good luck at your CI evaluation! :)
 
I you are not staying overnight it may be a good idea to find someone to drive you home. I stay overnight after my CI surgury and I found someone to drive me home as a precaution.
 
Thanks for the replies.
If I have this done, we may just stay in a motel that night.
 
I would advise against driving, even if you're going to stay in a motel overnight. I just had my surgery on Wednesday (finally, yay!), and although I wasn't too dizzy the first night, I've had some really strong waves of dizziness since then. Not constant, mind you, but unpredictable. If there's any way you can have someone else drive you, that'd probably be safest.
 
MOST of the time CI users get outpatient. Some have health history problem in the families, the doctor wanted her/him stay over night. You might want to use one night at the motel after the surgery. Then can drive home on next day or two.
 
Whether you can stay overnight or leave after surgery, I would probably recommend that you stay overnight so the doctor can monitor you in case of any problems. I'm sure your insurance will cover that. :)
 
ismi said:
I would advise against driving, even if you're going to stay in a motel overnight. I just had my surgery on Wednesday (finally, yay!), and although I wasn't too dizzy the first night, I've had some really strong waves of dizziness since then. Not constant, mind you, but unpredictable. If there's any way you can have someone else drive you, that'd probably be safest.
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I don't want to hijack this thread, but I'd like to congratulate ismi on his/her (sorry, I don't know your gender) surgery. Hopefully your dizziness will eventually subside. I had some mild dizziness following both of my surgeries and still experience it to this day, but it is not problematical for me as long as I don't move my head or stand up too quickly.
 
For most people, CI surgery is outpatient surgery that takes approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

To answer the driving question, I was told that somebody else had better be driving. The reason is simple, one is still under some influence of the drugs to drive safely home right after surgery. The next day may not be much of a problem but as others stated, that depends on the person.
 
Hear Again said:
I don't want to hijack this thread, but I'd like to congratulate ismi on his/her (sorry, I don't know your gender) surgery. Hopefully your dizziness will eventually subside. I had some mild dizziness following both of my surgeries and still experience it to this day, but it is not problematical for me as long as I don't move my head or stand up too quickly.
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I'm a 'he'. I suspect the dizziness is exacerbated by either the codeine I'm taking, or by the fact that I had a tympanoplasty done at the same time - having fluid in my middle ear usually makes me dizzy, so the packing might have the same effect. Either way, I'm too happy that this has finally happened to be bothered much. :-D
 
ismi said:
I'm a 'he'. I suspect the dizziness is exacerbated by either the codeine I'm taking, or by the fact that I had a tympanoplasty done at the same time - having fluid in my middle ear usually makes me dizzy, so the packing might have the same effect. Either way, I'm too happy that this has finally happened to be bothered much. :-D
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Well, I'll be darned. I missed that info. Congratulation! The best of success!
 
jimisham said:
This is my first post on the forum.
I'm going to be evaluated for a CI and have a couple of questions.
I have read that it is an outpatient operation that takes about 3 or 4 hours, and doesn't require a hospital stay overnight. Is this correct?
Do they discourage driving the same day of the operation? We will have to drive about 90 miles to get home and my wife does not like to drive on the freeway.
Thanks for any replies.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome! You'll find that every different CI centre has it's own procedures. Mine wanted me to stay overnight and to be honest with you, I was thankful for that. I was definitely ready to go home the next day.

As for driving, like some of the others I suffered mild dizziness for three weeks until I had the switch on. I refrained from driving during that time, not because I had to but because I chose to so as not to be a danger on the roads. I think you should factor in the possibility that you too may experience dizziness, even though many people don't. The part of the ear being operated on is near the vestibular system, which is quite sensitive to changes.

Good luck and stay in touch.
 
ismi said:
I'm a 'he'. I suspect the dizziness is exacerbated by either the codeine I'm taking, or by the fact that I had a tympanoplasty done at the same time - having fluid in my middle ear usually makes me dizzy, so the packing might have the same effect. Either way, I'm too happy that this has finally happened to be bothered much. :-D
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Glad to hear you've had your surgery and it went fine despite the dizziness. Do you have a date yet for switch on?
 
R2D2 said:
Glad to hear you've had your surgery and it went fine despite the dizziness. Do you have a date yet for switch on?
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August 8th - cutting it a bit close, since I go back to college in early September, but that's how it worked out. At least I'll have CART as a backup.
 
ismi,

Having CART as a backup is a good idea. After my first CI was activated, I also used CART (with Braille output) and it helped to reinforce what I was hearing with my CI -- especially during the first two weeks following activation when speech was indistinguishable. It also helped with the unfamiliar voices of classmates whom I was learning how to hear from a distance.

If you don't mind my asking, what CI brand did you choose? Just curious.
 
I am going for my surgery on the 8-27 and they told me it is outpatient. According the the surgery papers it states that I cannot leave the hospital unless I have a "designated driver" because of the anesthesia, drugs, and possible side effects. My hospital is an hour and half away too.

Ismi! Congrats!! :) You are getting turned on in 3 weeks just like I will be.
 
Hear Again said:
ismi,

Having CART as a backup is a good idea. After my first CI was activated, I also used CART (with Braille output) and it helped to reinforce what I was hearing with my CI -- especially during the first two weeks following activation when speech was indistinguishable. It also helped with the unfamiliar voices of classmates whom I was learning how to hear from a distance.

If you don't mind my asking, what CI brand did you choose? Just curious.
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I ended up going with the Harmony.

I've used CART since my second semester of college, and it's been incredibly helpful. Disability Services at my university seemed to think I might stop using it now that I have the implant. I don't know - I'm somewhat skeptical. But I guess we'll see how things are going once I've done some therapy, and I guess i I wouldn't complain if results were that good! And we have another student with a CI who uses CART, so they'll probably be open to it if I do still need CART.
 
ismi said:
I ended up going with the Harmony.

I've used CART since my second semester of college, and it's been incredibly helpful. Disability Services at my university seemed to think I might stop using it now that I have the implant. I don't know - I'm somewhat skeptical. But I guess we'll see how things are going once I've done some therapy, and I guess i I wouldn't complain if results were that good! And we have another student with a CI who uses CART, so they'll probably be open to it if I do still need CART.
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It might not hurt to continue using CART until you completely feel comfortable understanding speech with your CI. Then again, even if you do reach that point, CART can always serve as a backup since CIs don't give a person perfect hearing and there may be other factors that may affect your hearing such as distance and background noise.

I will be returning to college in the fall and will be meeting with my university's D/HH program this week to discuss the accommodations I will be using. Since I have bilateral CIs, I'll probably end up using my Comtek FM system only. In my case, I don't see a need to use CART unless I experience problems with my right CI (since I don't understand speech as well with my left CI as I do my right).
 
For the most part, it's an out patient surgery but if you have serious health problems; doctor may want you to stay overnight
 
I didn't have any problems at all. I got out of the hospital on the same day without ill effects and went to a big party the next day (yes, with all that bandage!). Pain wasn't that bad but everyone has different reactions.
 
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