My CI surgery got moved closer!

ohmylight

ohmylight

New Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
585
Reaction score
3
Originally I was scheduled for November 1st.... and 2 days ago the doctor called and moved me to September 20th.... less than a month away!

My question for all of you who experienced a CI surgery is: any tips to prepare to make my life easier during recovery? I've read all the information on what to expect - I'm wondering what made your recovery EASIER.
 
definitely do not try to rush the recovery, take it easy! I think I went back to work too soon. egads. Definitely take your time, and rest up, and let your family/friends wait on you. Take your pain meds as scheduled to stay on top of the pain if you have any. Some folks found it easier/more comfortable to sleep in recliners for a while during the recovery phase.

I stayed with my mom and stepdad for a few days when we came back into town (I have to go to another state for the CI), and that was nice. Mom did the cooking, and helped me with cleaning the incision area and putting neosporin on it and that sort of thing, even if it made her feel queasy. My dog was at the vet for boarding, so I didn't have to worry about him.


Good luck with the surgery!
 
Another advice: Please try not to sneeze otherwise stitches and skin will fell off. :eek3:
 
authentic said:
Another advice: Please try not to sneeze otherwise stitches and skin will fell off. :eek3:
Click to expand...

Ouch! I read about getting dizzy if you sneeze. Today I was sneezing in the car and started to get paranoid I was getting sick. I better get sick now if at all so I'm healthy in 27 days!! Hahaha
 
Best luck to your upcoming CI! :)
 
As I recall from operation- 6 years ago- not much "pain" felt fine the next day. Could go swimming 2 weeks later with the only restriction-don't lift hand weights over my head for 6 months. Which I followed. Hardly worth the "risk of splitting the stitches".
There was a 4 week wait to hooking the externals. Apparently "normal" from reading this screen.

The biggest "surprise" is getting used to all the sounds that you have missed from before.

The key to recovery is your health.

Good luck
 
drphil said:
As I recall from operation- 6 years ago- not much "pain" felt fine the next day. Could go swimming 2 weeks later with the only restriction-don't lift hand weights over my head for 6 months. Which I followed. Hardly worth the "risk of splitting the stitches".
There was a 4 week wait to hooking the externals. Apparently "normal" from reading this screen.

The biggest "surprise" is getting used to all the sounds that you have missed from before.

The key to recovery is your health.

Good luck
Click to expand...

How heavy are the handweights they say to avoid? Think it's going to be a problem to lift a heavy pro camera to my face after a month? The body and lens is enough to make my arm tired sometimes after a while....
 
If you do have to sneeze, sneeze with your mouth open, and try not to blow your nose if you can help it. Your surgeon surely will have a list of instructions for you to follow after the surgery so you know what to do. Weight limit (for me, it was nothing over 10 lbs for a week, then nothing over 25 lbs for a few weeks), no bending over for a few weeks, etc.
 
Right before my surgery someone on this site asked me if I had my meningitis vaccine prior to surgery. I called my surgeons office and in fact I did need one. My surgery would have been cancelled if I had not asked. People on this site had great information. Definitely sleep in a recliner, stay on top of your meds, and relax. I felt OK after my surgery until I had a rare, severe, allergic reaction. My thread "CI surgery approved today" has a ton of great info provided by other AD members. Good luck.
 
authentic said:
Another advice: Please try not to sneeze otherwise stitches and skin will fell off. :eek3:
Click to expand...

I was specifically told not to hold sneezes in!

I had my surgery in February. I stayed home from work for a week, I was pretty comfortable, really just took the pain meds to help me sleep. The biggest hassle was keeping water out of my ear for the 4-6 weeks or whatever it was. After 4 weeks you shouldn't have a problem with your camera.

I had some discomfort for a couple of weeks, nothing major just felt like I could feel the implant electrodes through my ear canal, went away just a creepy feeling.

Have someone video tape you coming out of anesthesia!
 
Good luck with your CI surgery! I haven't had that surgery yet (I hope to sometime soon) but I've had many other surgeries.
My advice is:
1. Have a person or people who are committed to take care of your for a few days
2. Make sure you have bland food like mashed potatoes, chicken noodle soup, and Mac and cheese readily accessible for the people who are taking care of you
3. Stock up on ginger ale (surgery always makes me puke. I finally learned to tell the doctor to write me a prescription for an anti-nausea drug just in case but ginger ale is really good for easing a queasy stomach)
4. Write down/have your buddy write down exactly when you took your pain meds. For the first day or two, take the medicine exactly on time (ex every 4 hours or every 6 hours). The worst thing in the world is waking up in the middle of the night in pain and having to wait until the pain pill kicks in.
5. Have movies you love ready. When I had shoulder surgery a year ago, I watched the same movies 3 or 4 times because I kept falling asleep. But as soon as I woke up, often in pain, I just started the movie over and fell back to sleep.
6. Sleep sitting up and don't watch funny movies. When I was 15 I had to have my chest cut open which meant my ribs were all broken. After awhile in the hospital I was allowed to go home. The first movie my mom and I tried to watch was "best in show". We got about 10 minutes in before I started laughing and was in severe pain.
7. Have someone to help you walk to the bathroom for the first day or so. My mom is a nurse and also knows how shitty my balance is on a normal day. I definitely needed her to help me walk to the bathroom for a few days. Hopefully your balance is better.
8. Relax and allow people to help you. That is hard.
 
Angel1989 said:
Right before my surgery someone on this site asked me if I had my meningitis vaccine prior to surgery. I called my surgeons office and in fact I did need one. My surgery would have been cancelled if I had not asked. People on this site had great information. Definitely sleep in a recliner, stay on top of your meds, and relax. I felt OK after my surgery until I had a rare, severe, allergic reaction. My thread "CI surgery approved today" has a ton of great info provided by other AD members. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I read that!! Wow must have been scary and discouraging. I'm hoping all heals well for me. I've had emergency surgery before so my old fear of anesthesia isn't there now. And I read your comments about meningitis before my last appointment so she gave me a handout on it and I got it last week from my primary care doctor :) I HATE pain meds - I don't even take Advil. Wondering if its really that important or just tough it out? When I got my wisdom teeth taken out I did pain meds for only a few days but that's what made me the most sick...
 
Paullys50 said:
Have someone video tape you coming out of anesthesia!
Click to expand...

hahahaha in 2007 or so I had an emergency appendectomy. The whole week before that I was sick then on CHRISTMAS EVE my sister called 911 and the ambulance was forced to take me to the hospital out of duty even though my mom said "I was fine".

So 5am on Christmas day I had my appendix removed. I was on SERIOUS pain meds and don't even remember opening up my christmas presents.

My mom made a list of what she can expect from me from my upcoming surgery....
- BAD out of pitch singing of the Beatles song "Let it Be" whenever someone knocks my IV
- BAD flirting with the male nurses
- Criticism on eyelash color choices (I direct photoshoots, and when I'm out of it I tell people to "respect my artistic direction"??)

So this trip on anesthesia should be fun ;)
 
ecp said:
8. Relax and allow people to help you. That is hard.
Click to expand...

That's the hardest for me to "suck it up and deal with" - I had the hardest time adjusting to relying on people for things like interpreters for school - I swore I could do it myself so that I was not difficult to accommodate and deal with to be "easier." Rather smile and nod and pretend I'm doing just fine than make a fuss or ask people to do things for me.

My mom, boyfriend, and 2 best friends are doing shifts so theres always 2 people in the house in case an errand needs to be run. My sister lives in NJ and when she comes through the week before she asked if I need anything and her "job" is to make casseroles and lasagna and things to help the people who are helping me. I hate feeling like an invalid or like someone needs to take care of me. That's going to be the hardest for me.

However I did use the excuse "I will need to rest, I won't email back for 2-3 weeks" to an overly needy client..... hahaha :eek3:
 
In answer ChristineNeeley re hand weights -each is 25 pounds.

While waiting for the medical review- I had the meningitis shot. It was requested at that time to avoid "problems".

From reading comments above= each of us have very different reactions to the operation which I surmise is the effect of the state of one's health.

Again much success in the upcoming Implant operation
 
I was on a 5 lb lifting restriction for the first 2 weeks--but she had to do something with the bones around my ear too so that might have been part of it. Soft foods are just easier to eat, yogurt, pudding, etc. for the first day or so. I was taking just regular Tylenol once I got home from surgery and that took care of my pain easily. Sleeping is hard because you can't lay on that side for a while if you normally sleep on that side. I slept in a recliner for a week and that helped. I'm a month post surgery and it's still a bit uncomfortable to lay on my implanted side but I have a nice soft, squishy pillow that I can hollow out a "hole' for my ear and that works.

Sneezing, just keep your mouth open. Showering--I used a shower cap over my head/ears and then would wash my hair in the sink with a cup over my incision. Awkward but it worked. It was really nice to take a full shower again.

The pressure bandage was the worst. I felt so much better once I could take that thing off.

They gave me a sea band--pressure wrist band thing==that helped with the dizziness and nausea at first. Maybe buy one to have at home just in case.

Don't try to do too much. I felt pretty good sitting around after a couple days but then tried to get out and about and got dizzy and felt kind of blah for the rest of the day. Take it slow!
 
Back
Top