Bilateral Complete
It would be a complete understatement to say that yesterday was a LONG day. Surgery was scheduled for noon, and check in was at 10:45. Since it had snowed pretty heavily the day before, and everything was icy, we left early. Luckily the roads were all pretty good, and we ended up getting there about a half hour early. Check in went well, and by 11:45, we were ready. The doctor however, was not. He was behind in clinic, and so surgery was delayed for an hour.
Things got rolling at 1:00. We gave our baby a final kiss, and she headed off with the surgery staff to start the implant proceedure. We knew it would be a lot longer than her first implant, because her second cochlea was ossified. That means it is solid bone now, and the doctor had to drill out the slots that the implant array would go into. He was finished at 5:00, and all that was left was for the resident to close her ear back up.
They got 11 out of the 22 electrodes inserted into the cochlea. I was hoping for at least 16, but half is a ton more than she had before surgery. The really good news is that they got some nerve response during testing. The doctor told us that with ossified cochleas, he normally doesn't see any response at this point. So that was very encouraging. It tells us that at the very least, the nerve is still alive and well, and waiting for input.
The best part is that our little trooper did really well. She sailed through surgery, and was very sleepy, but in a good mood when she got back to her room. No bad pain, and she only had a tiny bit of nausea. She took some water and a bit of cracker, and went to sleep. We will see how she feels today. She is scheduled to come home this afternoon. Dad was appointed to spend the night with her at the hospital, so I headed home and got some sleep myself. I imagine he didn't get so much.
Huge thanks go to Dr. Rubenstein, Dr. Norton, Dr, Sie and all the staff at Children's Hospital in Seattle. They are amazing people who really take great care of our children.
Things got rolling at 1:00. We gave our baby a final kiss, and she headed off with the surgery staff to start the implant proceedure. We knew it would be a lot longer than her first implant, because her second cochlea was ossified. That means it is solid bone now, and the doctor had to drill out the slots that the implant array would go into. He was finished at 5:00, and all that was left was for the resident to close her ear back up.
They got 11 out of the 22 electrodes inserted into the cochlea. I was hoping for at least 16, but half is a ton more than she had before surgery. The really good news is that they got some nerve response during testing. The doctor told us that with ossified cochleas, he normally doesn't see any response at this point. So that was very encouraging. It tells us that at the very least, the nerve is still alive and well, and waiting for input.
The best part is that our little trooper did really well. She sailed through surgery, and was very sleepy, but in a good mood when she got back to her room. No bad pain, and she only had a tiny bit of nausea. She took some water and a bit of cracker, and went to sleep. We will see how she feels today. She is scheduled to come home this afternoon. Dad was appointed to spend the night with her at the hospital, so I headed home and got some sleep myself. I imagine he didn't get so much.
Huge thanks go to Dr. Rubenstein, Dr. Norton, Dr, Sie and all the staff at Children's Hospital in Seattle. They are amazing people who really take great care of our children.
posted by K.L. | 8:18 AM
5 Comments:
K. L., this is such very good news. We all were wondering how it went. Congrats to you all for the success.
We are all glad to know that she came through the surgery well. AND then to learn that there was a nerve waiting for things to happen-yea!
We are holding you all close by in our hearts and sending CB good thoughts your way!
Fantastic news K.L. Glad everything went well.
KL, that's wonderful news! I'm so happy for all of you that it went so well. I know this has been a long and difficult journey. What a relief it must be that she could come home so quickly and be in a place where you can take good care of her. Sending many positive thoughts for fast healing.
I'm imagining the post-op conversation with the surgeon:
Doc: "Ma'am, this kid has got a lot of nerve."
KL: "Yes, indeed, she takes after her mother."
teehee
It all sounds so encouraging. She's quite the trooper. I'll be sure to tell Yoda that she'll now be able to hear him talk to her video.
Get some rest. Once she's feeling more alert, she'll likely have you running. :)
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