Wow! I Have surgery Tomorrow! This Is It!

Hi guys,

Sorry R2D2, full report will have to wait till May 9 as that's when I get hooked up. I only said I'd find out when hook up was. Dr. Phillsbury just wanted to see if I'm healing up and if I've no infections. Well, he cleaned up my stiches and stuff and boy, that hurt. :ugh3: Tonight I'm shampooing my hair!:D
 
deafskeptic said:
Hi guys,

Sorry R2D2, full report will have to wait till May 9 as that's when I get hooked up. I only said I'd find out when hook up was. Dr. Phillsbury just wanted to see if I'm healing up and if I've no infections. Well, he cleaned up my stiches and stuff and boy, that hurt. :ugh3: Tonight I'm shampooing my hair!:D
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Hey that's not long! :) And have fun shampooing your hair tonight!
 
implant

Good luck with the turn on, Deafskeptic. Did you have any pain or complications after surgery, besides the pain of getting the stitches cleaned out?

I think I'm the next one up for this. I had my pre-op physical today, which was just a formality, and I'm set to have surgery next Monday, May 7th. I'm getting the Advanced Bionics and having the surgery at Hopkins in Baltimore. My first activation app't. is May 21st, after only two weeks. Normally they do three weeks but some scheduling conflicts have pushed this up a bit sooner.

I've been feeling cold feet... overall I feel pretty optimistic about this, but part of me wonders if I'm making a stupid decision. I'm taking more of a risk than a lot of people, since I can still talk on the phone somewhat, tune my guitar, and I do just fine as a student and teacher at Hopkins, without interpreters or special services. But then my hl is at 95-110 decibels across the board.

Just one year ago I was hoping I'd never get to this point, and I lost more hearing for the first time in five years last September. I wasn't against other people getting the implant, but I was against it for myself. Still, I knew if I lost it all I would probably get one. It's taken me seven months to get to this point, and I still have cold feet. I'd wait longer except I really do have a prime opportunity being here at Hopkins and having excellent insurance. And the last drop-off in hearing was a wake-up call for me. I'm only here for two years, and summer break seems like a convenient time to do this...

I had a nice dream last night where I was able to hear better than I ever have with the cochlear implant, and was even able to hear all the notes on my guitar, even better than I do now. That would make it all worth it. As it is, I'm pretty much blowing out my eardrum with an iPod, trying to listen to music while it still sounds natural.
 
All the best, Franz. I understand your feelings that it is a big risk for you but also can see that you have a good opportunity now to do it with the good insurance coverage and being so close to a good CI program. It's good that you are realistic and can weigh factors against each other like that. I suppose due to the progressive nature of your loss, the ability to do what you can now is on borrowed time anyway. I know what you mean about getting the wake up call when you lose your residual hearing. Like you, I had a very averse attitude toward CIs until it happened to me.

I hope it all pays off for you.
 
Franz K said:
Good luck with the turn on, Deafskeptic. Did you have any pain or complications after surgery, besides the pain of getting the stitches cleaned out?
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I had some dizziness the first day after the surgery but I've no dizziness now. However, part of my ear is numb now but I'm told that my nerve will heal in a few weeks. I do have some stinging pain but it's not too bad and I can tolerate it now.

I used to be against CIs till last fall when I joined AllDeaf and I actually turned down a chance to have implants a few years ago when I underwent some sort of VR thing.
 
Franz K,

Good luck to you. Just weigh the best and worse case possibilities, and see if you could live with the worst outcome, I guess. Chances are that won't happen, but any proceedure is a gamble.

I've heard people describe the CI's sound as what a mini-casette recorder sounds like. That's actually pretty good. A little artificial, but pretty good. Because you have heard, you'll be able to tell them how to adjust it (something my brother couldn't do) and you'll know when it's the best it can be. Also, if listening to kids with newer implants is any standard, their speech sounds perfect so one would imagine they're hearing pretty well to learn how to speak, so I think CIs have come a long way.

Please let people know here what you finally decide, how it goes for you, and all that. Like deafskeptic's updates, I find this all very interesting information and I think sharing what's happening to you probably helps.
 
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