Recovering quickly
So, I thought I'd spin a little yarn.
On Monday, I got up at 5:10am with my dad. I drove us to the hospital (Swedish Medical Center, 701 E Hampden Avenue, Englewood, Colorado) and arrived shortly before 6am. I was prepped for the surgery by 7:30am. They inserted an IV into the top of my left wrist. I rolled into O.R. #11 at 7:42am. I saw the surgeon making final prep/practice with his special microscope, and my name and operation type on the whiteboard. I moved over to the O.R. bed and a minute or so of breathing the anesthesia mask and I was knocked out. I awoke about three hours later in the PACU. I talked to the surgeon momentarily and was fed some drugs via the IV which made all the pain go away for a moment. I fell asleep and crashed (suffered hypoxemia), where my oxygen sats dropped below 80%. They resuscitated me and fed me oxygen via the nose. Shortly afterwards, I was rolled back to the pre-op prep area and my dad came by again.
I slept on and off until 5:30pm, and received varying amounts of painkillers. I tried to eat & drink a few times. The first time, around 2pm or so, I threw up quite a bit. Once the anesthesia wore off, I was able to eat some food. About 6:30pm, I was discharged from the hospital.
Yesterday, around 3:30pm, the head wrap came off and we got a look at the incision for the first time. Surprisingly, the recovery has been pretty easy. Although it looks painful, I've only used two painkiller pills (propoxyphene-N, a weak opiate/narcotic) since leaving the hospital. Most of the time, I just feel woozy. I've been sleeping on and off. I'm able to eat well now, but my throat is sore and so swallowing is a bit difficult right now.
The surgery was a complete success. According to the surgeon, it only took him 35 minutes to complete the operation, out of the 2 hours he had budgeted. He got the implant inserted all the way through the cochlea on the first try. The simple stimulation testing they performed on the implant showed that my brain activity indicated I was receiving all the signals available through the implant. Because it worked on the first try, there was no messiness. No nicked nerves, no problems.
On March 27th, I will receive the new external processors (one for each ear; my old processor for my right ear will be a backup) and initial post-op stimulation. The stitches will come out shortly before that point.
I had originally planned to return to work on March 31st, however, with the rapid recovery I've been making, it seems likely I will return much sooner. I'm thinking sometime next week.
Here's the pics:
On Monday, I got up at 5:10am with my dad. I drove us to the hospital (Swedish Medical Center, 701 E Hampden Avenue, Englewood, Colorado) and arrived shortly before 6am. I was prepped for the surgery by 7:30am. They inserted an IV into the top of my left wrist. I rolled into O.R. #11 at 7:42am. I saw the surgeon making final prep/practice with his special microscope, and my name and operation type on the whiteboard. I moved over to the O.R. bed and a minute or so of breathing the anesthesia mask and I was knocked out. I awoke about three hours later in the PACU. I talked to the surgeon momentarily and was fed some drugs via the IV which made all the pain go away for a moment. I fell asleep and crashed (suffered hypoxemia), where my oxygen sats dropped below 80%. They resuscitated me and fed me oxygen via the nose. Shortly afterwards, I was rolled back to the pre-op prep area and my dad came by again.
I slept on and off until 5:30pm, and received varying amounts of painkillers. I tried to eat & drink a few times. The first time, around 2pm or so, I threw up quite a bit. Once the anesthesia wore off, I was able to eat some food. About 6:30pm, I was discharged from the hospital.
Yesterday, around 3:30pm, the head wrap came off and we got a look at the incision for the first time. Surprisingly, the recovery has been pretty easy. Although it looks painful, I've only used two painkiller pills (propoxyphene-N, a weak opiate/narcotic) since leaving the hospital. Most of the time, I just feel woozy. I've been sleeping on and off. I'm able to eat well now, but my throat is sore and so swallowing is a bit difficult right now.
The surgery was a complete success. According to the surgeon, it only took him 35 minutes to complete the operation, out of the 2 hours he had budgeted. He got the implant inserted all the way through the cochlea on the first try. The simple stimulation testing they performed on the implant showed that my brain activity indicated I was receiving all the signals available through the implant. Because it worked on the first try, there was no messiness. No nicked nerves, no problems.
On March 27th, I will receive the new external processors (one for each ear; my old processor for my right ear will be a backup) and initial post-op stimulation. The stitches will come out shortly before that point.
I had originally planned to return to work on March 31st, however, with the rapid recovery I've been making, it seems likely I will return much sooner. I'm thinking sometime next week.
Here's the pics: