Thankfully everyone was healthy and the surgery went off without a hiccup!
Her surgery was at 8am, so we arrived at 7 where the nurse took us to a private room, we answered lots of questions and watched Curious George (because, what else would you watch at 7am to distract a toddler?) The surgeon came in and signed off on Hannah's CI surgery and 2 ear tubes instead of one, like we originally thought because fluid was present, and we got down to business.
Hannah was pretty clingy and I think she knew something was up.
At about 8:15 we walked Hannah back to the OR where she received some sleepy gas and they whisked her away.
After that Mom and Dad got some breakfast and we waited. It was a long wait, probably 3+ hours, which may not sound that long, but it is when it's your child.
Before we saw Hannah we met with Dr. Choo, her doctor. He showed us pictures of Hannah's surgery, something I had been told about, but wasn't quite ready to see. He showed us how the implant was placed, the coils and where her scar is. The coils are longer than needed so as her head grows they grow with her so no additional surgery is needed when she is an adult. He also encouraged us when he told us the surgery was very "textbook" and the CI worked really well when tested. He had a rep from Cochlear in the surgery who asked if the implant was in demo mode because it seemed to work too perfect. That's really good news!
After another 10 minutes the nurse came back out and told us we could come and see Hannah.
Such a sweet little patient.
Since we were out of town and Hannah has additional issues besides hearing loss the doctor decided to admit us for one night. Being our first time doing this it was probably a wise move, but next time I vote for just heading back to Louisville!
So we were wheeled upstairs (Keith got the royal treatment, haha).
Hannah went through periods of happiness and periods of pain. There was probably more pain the first day than happy, but we are seeing her improve. I think she was, and still is, confused about the pain and this enormous thing on her head.
Thankfully the head wrap comes off tomorrow and we've heard, from other parents of CI recipients, that by the 3rd day post-surgery their kiddo was back to normal.
As you can see, Hannah's already getting her spunk back.
She is happy to be back home with her brother and grandparents (Keith's parents are here lending much needed helping hands) and playing with her toys.
Now we wait two weeks for the incision to heal and then she gets "activated". So that ear should be a hearing ear by Thanksgiving. Thank you God!
Keith was really the champ over the last few days. Since I'm still nursing Suzi, she and I went to a hotel while Keith stayed with Hannah at the hospital. I guess he did deserve the royal treatment after all. ❤️
"The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm."
Exodus 14:14
No comments:
Post a Comment