August 24th, 2011...
Today is the day for my ear implant. I'm nervous and excited. My mom came with me for this surgery because my husband had to work (with such short notice it was hard for him to get the day off). We stayed at my aunt's house the night before since we live just over 3 hours away from Detroit and her house is only an hour away. My arrival time at the hospital was 10:30 am, which to my knowledge meant that my surgery wouldn't be going until at least noon. Long day in store for us!
I was called back for admission and everything went smoothly and on track. My anesthesia team was stellar and listened to my concerns regarding pain meds and about nausea post op. They gave me a great cocktail beforehand (which worked really well afterwards) and made me feel really secure in knowing they would take good care of me. Dr. Seidman stopped by as well to see me and go over everything one more time and then, it was time to roll! I was slipped a "mickey" by the anesthetist on the way to the OR and everything was pretty fuzzy as I was wheeled in. I remember seeing a ton of people in the room and specifically Dr. Seidman as he waved at me and asked, "How does it feel to be so popular?". I smiled drunkenly and the next thing I remember is being on the OR table seeing the mask go over my nose and mouth.
Waking up was interesting. I was in and out of awareness. I really couldn't tell if I was dreaming or not, but then I remembered as I became more aware that you can't dream during surgery, so surgery must be over. I recall Dr. Seidman taking my hand and telling me in my left ear that everything worked out well and I was in recovery. He also asked if I could smile widely and make a pucker face with my lips. I think I did as he asked. Then I noticed my mouth was filled with blood and mucus and was suctioned out several times. I slipped into unconsciousness again. I woke to a lot of sharp pain on the right side of my head (my surgical side) and I remember a few tears leaking out of my eyes. Then I must have dozed off again for awhile. I came to again to the feeling of the catheter being taken out, the nurses reinforcing my head dressing, and a nice narcotic haze. I was able to move at this point and reached up to scratch at my face. I faintly heard the nurse say "Well hello!" but I fell right back to sleep. When I woke again, I heard my mom and the nurse talking. It was so faint and I realized just how hard it was going to be to hear with only one ear that was only at 60% on it's own. Of course my hearing aid wasn't in my left ear yet, but I had a feeling it was still going to be hard. My head and neck were hurting and I opened my eyes to ask for pain meds. The nurse got to me right away and the pain subsided. I looked at my mom and smiled. She looked worried and happy at the same time. I asked her what time it was and she told me it was 9:30 at night. Holy cow! Turns out my surgery lasted almost 7 hours, instead of 5 and that part of the reason why it took so long was because Dr. Seidman almost had to terminate the surgery before the device could be implanted. My ossicles were slightly fixated (which the CT scan did not pick up) and unable to vibrate enough to allow the Esteem implant to work properly. The Envoy engineers in the surgery told Dr. Seidman they wouldn't allow him to continue because of this and his attempts at making it work would not fall under warranty conditions. However, Dr. Seidman told my mom (and later me) that he is not one to give up so easily. He broke scrub at that point and phoned a colleague of his to ask his opinion about the situation. He was told to "do what was best for the patient". Well, whatever it was that he did worked and Envoy was satisfied with it and I am beyond grateful that he was the surgeon working on me, because truly I feel like if it had been anyone else, they would have just closed up shop when the engineer told him it was over. Turns out Dr. Seidman is a really experienced ossicular chain reconstruction specialist, so that was in my favor!
I was fairly awake now and the nurse got me water and saltines. Both tasted like....nothing. I had zero taste! I ended up having the taste disturbance complication which I knew to expect but was still disappointed about. My scalp was also really numb on the right side for what I could feel around the dressing. Then I had the urge to pee really bad so the nurse put me on the bed pan which was a failure. I ended up having to be straight cathed (something that always happens to me after I have surgery and a foley catheter. This is due to the anesthesia "paralyzing" the bladder). She notified the anesthesiologist in house and he came to talk to me regarding this. I wanted to leave, so we agreed that my mom would make sure I didn't go more than 6-8 hours without peeing on my own and if so, to come back to the ER for further treatment. Because of this, we had to stay at a hotel nearby vs returning to my aunt's house as planned. This was actually ok because it was storming out really bad and the hospital was on lock down until the "code black" passed (thunderstorm/tornado warning/watch). We didn't leave until the lock down ended, which meant it was late and I was in no shape to be in the car for an hour. Plus my mom was so frazzled from the longer than anticipated day that I don't doubt she wanted to stay at a hotel just minutes away too. So once we got the ok from the anesthesiologist that I was safe to discharge, the nurse took out my IV, helped me to stand at the bedside and mom helped me get dressed. I was feeling super groggy and stiff but otherwise pretty darn good. We made it to the hotel, got settled for the night (I ended up being able to pee), and I took my pain meds and antibiotics as prescribed. I didn't sleep well at all that night. My head and neck were pretty uncomfortable plus the huge bulky dressing was awkward. We ended up leaving the hotel around 9 that morning and getting home around 1 pm. Mom stayed with me til my husband came home from work and I napped for awhile too. Nothing like your own bed!!!
I was allowed to take my dressing off 24 hours after surgery, but Dr. Seidman said it would be ok if it was a few hours early. So about 4:30 my mom helped me take the dressing off and man, did that feel great! But then I saw how much hair was shaved....and I'm not going to lie, it's a bit shocking no matter how prepared the surgeon makes you! The incision was covered by steri strips which were to be removed a week later. My ear was numb which was strange and creepy feeling. My neck on the right side was painful to touch and my taste was still nothing. But, for the end result, how could I complain?? So I have a few minor discomforts to deal with in order to be able to hear!
Mom helped me comb out my hair and we had to use vegetable oil in it to get some of the surgical cement out of my hair (don't know how it ended up in my hair!) which was gross but worked. I googled this remedy believe it or not. I'm not allowed to get my head wet for about a week so I will have stinky, greasy hair now for this time period...yuck. The following Thursday I'm supposed to take my steri strips off and email a picture of the incision to Dr. Seidman so he can make sure I'm healing well. I'll also be able to get my head wet and wash my hair!
My husband came home shortly after this and my mom left (Mom, thank you sooo much for going down there with me! I know it was hard for you in it's own way). The incision and shaved head grossed my hubby out:) Bed time was a little better this night but I still woke up a lot. I guess I wouldn't say the pain was really all that bad, but I certainly didn't respect this surgery as much as I should have. I'll be sure to post pictures of the dressings and incisions when I can get them on here.
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