Just got home from my pre-op exam. My surgeon is so calm, it sort of makes me feel like a spaz when I jump in with some comment or question! But he's really good about it, answers everything and makes me feel comfortable. Calmness is definitely something I like in someone who is going to operate on me.
He covered the usual pre-surgical boilerplate (no eating, no drinking, etc.), then described the flow of events. Normally they make you take off your hearing aids before surgery, but I get to keep mine in so I can communicate in the OR. Once I'm knocked out they will remove them for me (I was glad to learn that because back when I had knee surgery, between no hearing aids and no contact lenses, it was nearly impossible to understand what they were saying to me. I think we had to use a notepad!) . He said surgery would take about 3 hours or so. The incision will only be about an inch long. No stitches. After closure it is covered with some kind of water impermeable glue. Next I go to recovery for an hour. Then they move me to another area until I'm ready to go home. They take the pressure bandage off then too. Since surgery is at 10 am, he guessed I'd be discharged around 5 pm.
After that he went into post-surgery instructions. Ice behind the ear hourly (he recommended frozen peas in a latex glove). Don't rub the implant area for 30 days to give scar tissue time to form and secure the implant in place. Okay to wash hair the next day, but don't rub the incision area either. We set an appointment for one week after surgery for post-op checkup at which time the activation date will be set -- as soon as a week later!
Lastly he gave me Vicodin and Keflex (antibiotic) prescriptions and sent me on my way.
Gotta run. Time to pick up our little man from daycare!
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I saw my surgeon in June of 06 and then not again until I met him in the operating room for CI 1 in September of 06. I saw him again in December )^for a post op checkup. He said then "Whenever you're ready for your second CI, just holler!" The next time I saw him was three minutes before my second surgery three weeks ago. We haven't spent much time together ;). He has a crack staff though that makes sure we have all the info we need :)
It sounds like your incision may be even smaller than mine. Mine went just behind the ear and up about a centimeter just over the ear. I got to keep all my hair. He used internal dissolvable stitches and superglue to cover the outside. The only instructions he gave me were to keep Neosporin on the incision and to keep a cotton ball covered with Neosporin in the ear canal during shampooing until it was all healed. Amazing how they're all different!!!
Ah...Vicodin...good deal. I had Lortab and it made me sick as a dog...never, never again...
I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! (can you tell?)
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