Totally successful. Into OR at 7:45 am and wheeled to Recovery at 11:45. Surgeon used Advanced Bionics Helix Electrode. All 16 electrodes fired successfully in OR.
Now resting in hospital room. Surgeon will come by tomorrow morning and remove bandage…..then home.
More to follow with pictures later.
It was a long day, the longest part for me being waiting in the surgery waiting room for four hours while Byron was awake in Recovery waiting for a bed to come open on the floor. Byron was reported to be alert and checking out all the activity in Recovery, while I was trying not to stage a breakout from the hospital for us.
Byron is doing great, he woke right up after surgery, no pain, no nausea; burger and fries straight off. We did several walks around the nurses station, a little easier each time. The surgeon was great, keeping me in the loop on Byron’s condition and the bed search.
I did ask the first doc we saw this morning: “which ear?” and she responded with the correct answer and then marked it. I almost wrote NOT THIS ONE on the other ear, but did manage to refrain. In any case, looks like great placement and now the healing begins.
Day 2. As I predicted, Byron got bored quickly, you saw the blog from post-op. He says it is hard to type on the laptop in a hospital bed. He really didn’t need to be in overnight, it was a precaution because we are 30 miles from the hospital.
I got the call about 8am on day 2, both docs had been in to see him and his discharge papers would be ready in 15 minutes. Still tired from yesterday, I stumbled out to the car and headed for town. Parking was the usual hassle, exacerbated by the osteoarthritis in my knee; I was the one that needed the wheelchair. Remember to bring your picture ID into the hospital each day so you can get your visitor badge (Thank you al Qaeda). That means don’t leave your purse in the car so you will have less to carry.
Byron was ready to go, they had called for transport, paperwork done. I tied his shoes, tried to explain the two part process to his sister who called my cell (we deferred until later for all the details- he’s fine, just let me get him out of here). While I was on the phone with Sue, Byron went to tell the nurse that he was ready to go and to please rustle up a wheelchair for him. Yep, he walked to find the nurse to get him a wheelchair.
He is ready to go, we got all the charger cords, and checked the drawers for good measure, and there was a wheelchair right outside the door. His roommate was not leaving, so it must be ours: he got settled in the wheelchair, I found the brakes, and was wheeling him away, waving goodbye to the nurse, Teresa, (she was great)… Oooops, there is a transporter person (somewhere, he brought the chair) to drive the wheelchair. There are some things that they just won’t let the family do on their premises.
–Going Clinical Here– (One of the other things they won’t let family do is record outputs, the nurse has to measure and record the pee in the bucket: yes you must pee in the bucket to make sure your kidneys are still working If we don’t measure it, you didn’t pee it. If we don’t write it down, you didn’t pee it.
They did let me hook and unhook his leg pressure hoses. He had TED thigh highs(pressure stockings), and they also hooked up a knee-high boot that pumps up to 40mm Hg and lets go, alternately on each leg, to prevent blood pooling in the leg veins that can cause a clot, that can lead to all sorts of nasty complications. It’s a leg masage, one I’d like to have on my next long plane trip. To get him ready for a walk, you have to turn off the pump and disconnect the hose to each leg, then tuck the leg end of the hose up under a velcro flap on the boot. Reverse once back in bed.) — End of Clinical–
Once down at the front door, I went through the process of gettting the car, getting him in, then I drove around the block and dropped him off at the medical office building next door: it is my turn to consume some medical care. Do not get arthritis. Very painful, no cure.
At this point Byron has no bandage, his head is shaved about 2 inches out from his ear, the incision is much bigger than I thought, about 3-4 inches long following the curve of the ear about 1/2″ behind it. There are about 15-20 stitches, there will be a scar, but it will not be visible under the hair. There is no bleeding. There is a 1-2″ bruise at the bottom of the incision, but Byron says no pain. (To put this in perspective, Byron does not take Novacain for fillings, and rarely takes pain meds, even aspirin.) There is no swelling. We have some antibiotic cream to put on several times a day and antibiotics to take 4X a day. He is not supposed to drive for about a week, until he can turn his head without pain or limitations. He has been a little unsteady, but improving continually. Even more than usual he is lipreading to understand speech.
Once we got home, he settled into the recliner and popped in Dexter, the 2nd season. The live-in nurse (me) went back to bed. Too much worry, not enough sleep.
I have had my nap and it is now 7 pm, Byron is reading and ready for a good night’s sleep. Me: I’m happy to have him home and very happy that the dangerous part is over.
Hey Beth & Byron!
I will capitalize my words so Byron can hear ‘em better! (joke! Byron will get it!)
BYRON YOU OLD CODGER…GLAD TO KNOW YOU MADE IT THROUGH THE TOUGH STUFF! I KNOW THERE’S MORE TO COME AND I SINCERELY HOPE THIS ALL LEADS TO BETTER HEARING ON YOUR PART. MAYBE THEN YOU’LL BE ABLE TO LISTEN CLOSER, AND BETTER TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE CONSERVATIVE GENUIUS ADVICE I’VE BEEN GIVING YOU FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS OR SO!!
OK, I’M GOING TO STOP SHOUTING NOW.
Seriously, a slice into anyones head that is three to four inches long is NOT a fun time. And then having them insert a ‘device’ under your skin cannot be a pleasant thought either…but I’ll bet that you, Mr. Byron, waited until Bush was out of office to have this done just to be certain that ‘the device’ wasn’t a Dick Cheney zapper intended to keep tabs on you and your strange behavior (as defined by Republicans..of course!).
I will keep checking in to see how you’re doing, and thanks a bunch to Beth for writing it all up. Keep up the good work there Beth and hopefully I’ll see you guys sometime soon.
Don