For the first part, I will do a basic outline of what happened step-by-step: good for those who are contemplating to have the surgery or will go for sure one of these days.
July 2, 2008
- packed up our bags and left to go to Halifax, NS. You might be lucky the hospital is in your hometown or a short drive to, but we have to drive 2 1/2 hours to mine. Not bad.
- lots of anticipation going through me, lots of mixed emotions, excitement, etc.... so many feelings all thrown together. Wow....
- listening to everything for the last time with my hearing aid on this day. It is the only "kind" of sounds I know since I was fitted with a hearing aid when I was wee child
- Pre-Admission Clinic at 12:45 pm at the Victoria General Hospital:
* registered
* electrocardiogram: testing of my heart
* recording of my weight, oxygen level, temperature and blood pressure
* Questionnaire - questions like - full health history, what medications are you taking, any allergies you have, past surgeries you had, etc., etc.
* asked if I had any questions, so took this opportunity to ask the nurse a few questions
That was all. Some people may meet the anaesthesiologist if you had past problems with surgery. I didn't need to meet him/her as I had no difficulties with my previous surgery I had 5 years ago. The only warning I gave them was the fact I had breathing difficulties when morphine was administered to me in the past, my breathing became decreased. So they avoided morphine, which was great.
If one has back problems and cannot sleep flat on your back, please ensure you tell them this during the pre-admission testing. I have a herniated lower disk - an old injury and I can't sleep flat on my back. During the operation, they put a pillow under my knees to keep it elevated, and as well as in the recovery room, my hospital bed was elevated at the end. Worked out well and had no back pain at all.
Left the hospital and stayed overnight at friends of ours. Had a great meal, great chat, and hit the sack early. Slept really well, surprisingly. Woke up nice and early. Showered and then hit the road to the hospital for 8:30 am on July 3rd.
No eating from midnight and onwards. I ate last was 8 pm. Took my meds on the following morning with a sip of water, so didn't need to worry about them again until the next day.
July 3, 2008
Arrived at the hospital around 8:10 am. Met the interpreter. I really don't usually get an interpreter but for this day, I decided to get one to ensure there's no misunderstanding at all, and didn't want to make the effort to lip-read different people, so interpreter I got, and best decision of all it was! If you know ASL sign language, it would be a good idea for you to get an interpreter. I left my hearing aid, all my jewellery and even my wedding band at home. Boy, I felt lost without my wedding band but got used to it quickly.
- Registered to let them know I was "present".
- Registered again in another area and met a receptionist who asked me all kinds of questions again, who the referring doctor was, etc., and obtained my benefit contract number to get a private room. This took all of 10 to 15 minutes. Put a name band on my wrist and a red band to show I am allergic to morphine.
- Went down to the "Pre-Op" room.
- Nurse called me to a private area, asked for my name, which ear was being operated on, etc., any allergies, etc... same questions over and over again as I was asked on the previous day. This is for safety to ensure they have the right person, and right place of operation, etc.
- Back to the waiting area again and stayed there until about 12:30 pm, I think. My surgery was delayed as the person in the OR took longer than expected and then they had to sterilize the OR room for me.
- Interpreter and I went up to the pre-op prep room on next floor. This is where Raymond and I parted ways... gave each other two kisses, naturally, lol.
- Got on a bed, and nurse asked me for my name, same questions all over again... annoying, I know.
- Intern doctor with a big long last name, from the Netherlands, came to see me and looked over my chart and marked my right ear with a "x".
- Explained what would happen to me as soon as I go into the OR room.
- Time to go, said goodbye to the interpreter, and rolled me into the OR down the hall
- My first impression of the OR room was, "How cute is this!!! It is so small and cozy!" Lots of machines everywhere, wow!
- Transferred me onto the OR bed.
- Put a pillow under my knees.
- Got myself all nice and cozy. Put a nice warm heated blanket on me as it was cold in that room!
- The anaesthesiologist prepped my left arm for the anaesthesia IV and put in a needle of gravol as well to prevent nausea afterwards. I highly recommend you do do this as it is very effective.
- Put me on the heart monitor.
- Put a mask on me and said I would be ready to sleep very soon. Stupid of me, I wanted to see how LONG I could stay awake with this on me...I fought against it by trying to keep my eyes open. The nurse told me to "breathe" it in, don't fight it... nah.... I breathed and struggled to keep my eyes open at the same time, lol. Powerful stuff, I shall tell you... whiff, whiff.... zonked out.....
Felt like all of 5 minutes later, I was in the recovery room. Amazing!!! I was in recovery room by 4 pm. Woke up in a little bit of pain discomfort, but the nausea was worse. The nurse gave me more gravol, and that cleared it up in no time. As soon as I arrived in the recovery room, apparently I was awake and the doctor spoke to me saying that all went very good. I signed to him over and over, "Thank You, thank you, thank you!!" I have no memory of this.
Interpreter came to be with me during this time. Thank God for her!!!! It was so much easier to read the signing instead of lip-reading as I was so "out" of it, all groggy and drugged up. Doctor came back into the recovery room as the interpreter was there. He said the surgery went very well and everything looks great. The audiologist came into the OR room to test my cochlear implant to see if it was "live" or not before they closed me up and it was excellent. So thanked the doctor again thinking it was my first time to thank him, lol.
Raymond came into see me in the recovery room and told me what the doctor told him, that all went well. He only stayed for a moment. It was nice to see him.
Zonked out again..... and woke up again at 5 pm, feeling like only 5 minutes later. I asked the interpreter what time it was... she said, "It's 5 pm" with a smile. I was so shocked. From here and on out, I stayed awake and became more alert. Took the next half hour chatting with the interpreter, which was great.
At 5:30 pm, they took me down to my room on the ENT floor - private room, yay! Raymond and a close friend of mine were in the room chatting, waiting for me. I smiled at them and chatted with them. They were so shocked on how well I was doing - compared to Raymond's recovery.
Once I was settled, the interpreter's job was over, so bid her farewell. She did an excellent job with us all day. "Thank You!!" - you know who you are :))
Nurse came in to see me to do her usual job - take blood pressure, check oxygen level, and temperature. Gave me painkiller tablets. Put me on oxygen.
Raymond and my two friends stayed until 9 pm. During this time, we had great chats. Raymond called my mother on his cell phone so I got Raymond to give me the cell so I could talk to Mom. I know I have never talked on the phone in my life, but at least she is quiet at the other end listening to me while I talk. I wanted her to hear my voice and for me to tell her that I was doing fine, so talked to her for a few minutes. I told her that I wanted to bring out the wine and celebrate, have a party now! God, that was the drugs and after-effects of the anaesthesia talking, not me!!! Mom had a great laugh over that, sigh.....
Relaxed for a couple of hours, read a couple of magazines and turned out the lights at 11 pm. Before that, I went to the washroom, but with the help of the nurse when I got out of bed for the first time since surgery. They request you to do that, because you don't know what you will be like once you get up, so they have to be with you for the first couple of times for safety reasons. The first time was fine and the nurse said I can get up anytime on my own afterwards. That's good. Took me off oxygen, didn't need it anymore.
You call a hospital a place of rest, NOT!!! They woke me up nearly every hour to do my blood pressure, oxygen level check, and temperature. And about every half hour, or something like that, they shine a flashlight into your room to see if I am okay or not.
July 4, 2008
On the following morning, woke up nice, bright and early. Feeling very good. Had breakfast, gave me my meds, and relaxed for a bit.
A group of doctors and interns came into my room around 7 am, oh, I would say there were about 6 or 7 of them all around me. Can be very intimidating. One asked me a series of questions, like how I was feeling, any pain, any dizziness, any off balance, etc., etc., and then he took the bandage off me to look at my incision. All looks good and then he told me the surgeon, Dr. Morris, will be in to see me later. I will be going home later in the morning.
Raymond arrives around 8:30 am.
Dr. Morris and his intern doctor who assisted him during my surgery, came in at 9 am. Checked the implant/incision and asked me the same series of questions, and gave me home-care instructions - I could shower on July 5th, with a cotton ball slathered with polysporin or Vaseline in my right ear to prevent water from entering the ear canal. Can use shampoo as long as there's no perfume in it, etc., lots of common sense things to do. That was it, I can go home anytime. Gave me Tylenol #3 prescription for pain when needed.
Nurse came in and re-bandaged my head for "support" for my long 2 1/2 hour trip to home. Released at 10 am.
Here's the catch, the Victoria General Hospital does not enforce the strict policy of wheel chairing us out of the hospital, so had to walk myself out, of course, with the assistance of Raymond. I found the openness of the hallway and lobby area threw me off a little bit, made me off balance.
Waited for Raymond in the lobby and picked me up at the door. Off we go back to Moncton. Slept most of the way off and on. Good trip. Glad to be home. Mom and sister came out to see me in the evening - gave me lovely flowers.
Took two Tylenol #3 that night before going to bed, and slept right through the night. I was exhausted. And as well, you should not be alone at home for the first 24 to 48 hours, in case something happens to you.
To make a long story short, the rest of the week of recovery was spent resting alot, relaxing and had lots of naps. I had some pain discomfort in my ear canal, ear drums and outer ear as well. Dizziness and off balance was very minimal and improved over the next few days. Today, July 16th, I still do experience it once in a while, but not as frequent as it was. The worst time is when waking up in the morning, the room is spinning a little bit, but as I wake up more, it gradually stops.
Another thing I am experiencing is tinnitus - which is ringing in the ears. It is terribly loud at times, and it seems to be ever so present when I am doing something, let it be walking, or talking with someone. It is very tiring. I have this all day long until I go to bed.
I have to insert something here, I have to thank someone..... my husband, Raymond. He has been a great help to me all week, he made a great nurse, minus the uniform :) Thank you Raymond!! Love you lots.
July 10, 2008
Back to Halifax again to see Dr. Morris for the post-op check up and staple removal for 2:30 pm. Dr. Morris says everything looks great, so far so good. Removed the staples, and a couple hurt, but other than that, all came off easily. It felt SO good to have the staples off as they were getting tight and itchy. The incision healed really good. Looked inside my ear and saw dried blood behind my ear drum. Dr. Morris says that will eventually fall off and down the tube into my throat, and will spit out blood. Up to today, that still has not happened yet.
Still have to take it easy and he talked about my work, etc., and advised me to be off work until August 18th.
The appointment was like 15 to 20 minutes... that's it. Off I go back to Moncton.
The BIG activation day is July 29th, and can hardly wait for it :))
I am going to post some pictures now, however, I would like to add one more thing. For those who will have the cochlear implant surgery, I suggest for you that once you go home after your surgery, it is a good plan to have a few quiet days afterwards. You need alot of rest and you will be napping alot. Try to keep the visiting times very minimal if people visit you. You need the rest and it is important for you be well rested to make your recovery successful.
And be prepared not to be able to drive for over a week or so. Took me 13 days before I could drive comfortably. It took Raymond 3 weeks before he could drive again.
Here are some pictures:
This is the eve of my surgery.
Raymond and I.....
Chatting with Raymond and a couple of friends of mine....
Staples, 13 of them. See the tiny blue dot on the shaved portion of my head, that is where the implant is.
Voila, staples off!!!
This is actually after the surgery, they only shaved the hair underneath and left the overtop. Wonderful, eh? Hair is thin in this area tho'.
No comments:
Post a Comment