Pre-Operation Appointment - July 2nd

I arrived into Rochester an hour and half early! I feel like I am turning into my brother David who is always obnoxiously early for everything :). I went to my first appointment, which was the CT Scan. I told them about the screws I had in my jaw from my previous surgery and they said that a CT Scan would be fine, but not a MRI. I laid on a platform with my head secured by a band across my forehead. They marked the right ear by taping a thin object to my cheek.

The CT Scan took about five minutes. I just had to lay still while my head was moved into a center of a large donut looking machine. Then a camera inside spun around to take pictures. Afterwards, I walked back down to the Mayo Clinic Atrium and heard a man singing at the top of his lungs. When I looked down from the balcony, there were people standing around listening. He sang songs like Amazing Grace, America the Beautiful, The Rose while someone played on a black grand piano. He asked the crowd to join in and people did, it was pretty powerful, of course I got tears in my eyes being the sap that I am. I found out later that people come on a daily basis to sing for the crowd. It is really uplifting. I continue to be impressed with the services here especially the wireless Internet which I am currently reporting from.

My second appointment was for my preoperative evaluation. I arrived at the check-in counter for my appointment. I could not understand the woman at the desk and asked her to repeat and explained that I was hard of hearing. She then, started talking VERY loud, slow, enunciating every word! I stopped her after a few words to explain that she can just use her regular voice. I thought it was a little funny. I have actually presented to younger students and adults about this very behavior, ha.

Anyways, I had all the usual check ups with weight, height, blood pressure and oxygen levels. They are VERY thorough, I had a nurse and a physician ask me about my health, medical and surgical histories as well as my daily habits. They asked who would be with me on the day of the surgery. They got both of my parents names and the hotel they are staying at. Then, she asked for their cell phone number. I laughed since my parents "own" a cell phone, but they never use it, not sure if they know how to! I guess both the nurse and physician will submit their own reports on my health history to make sure nothing was missed from the interview. Next, the anesthesiologist came in to do his evaluation. He checked my lungs and asked more questions about my medical history. It looks like I will be given the anesthesia through an IV. After his evaluation, I was declared as healthy to have the surgery! Yay!

Alright, I am back at home ready to report about the rest of the day. When I arrived home, I took an hour and half nap (I was planning to only sleep 20 minutes!), I was so exhausted! Imagine that, an hour nap at 6:30 pm! Nuts! Okay, back to the Mayo visit...

For my third appointment, I met with Ann Peterson for my Cochlear Implant Consultation. We picked out colors for my behind the ear speech processor and the magnet (I will be posting a blog soon explaining cochlear implants). I picked the same color that is used for my hearing aid. It comes in a variety of colors like pink and blue, but I thought that would be a bit much :). My implant is the Nucleus Freedom by Cochlear, same as my brother's implant. I received a DVD and manual on how to use my speech processor. Also, I got an identification card to keep with me in case I am in an accident to be sure they are aware that I have an implant.

I found out that patients can be hooked up the day after surgery if they wish. I have decided to wait a few weeks so I am feeling 100%. I will have an appointment 2 – 3 weeks after surgery once the swelling has gone down to put the magnet on. I will have a two day appointment with 2-4 hours of sound mapping (identifying sounds that I recognize) on each day. Depending on how I do at those appointments, I may need come back a week or a month later. Most of my appointments for sound mapping will be within the first 3 – 6 months. People have shown success with the bimodal method which is when two modes are used, the hearing aid and the cochlear implant. Ann suggested that I use both my hearing aid and implant during the work day and in the evenings use the implant to train my brain to the new sounds in my environment.

Finally, my last appointment of the day was with Dr. Neff. He explained the major risks that come with surgery such as jaw pain, bruising (one of his patients got a black eye!) facial injury which is 1 out of 1,000 cases and meningitis. None one of Dr. Neff's patients has yet gotten meningitis after surgery. He has performed a couple of hundreds of surgeries and has not had to remove an implant yet. Dr. Neff explained that he had one patient who had a head injury after implantation and the implant was damaged. Then Dr. Neff said my CT scan looked good and there was enough room to insert the implant in the cochlea. He showed me on his computer monitor the cochlea of both of my ears with the normal formation of two and half turns.

Prior to surgery I will have 4 inches shaved behind the ear. I am happy that I am getting shaved so there is no mistake on which ear should be implanted on. I have heard the horror stories of people getting the wrong knee operated on or kidney taken out! The surgery will take about 2 -3 hours. The night before the surgery I need to call a phone line between 8:30 – midnight to get my scheduled surgery date, so I will not know until the day before.Depending on when the surgery is scheduled, I may be able to go home that day. If it is later in the evening, then I may stay overnight at the hospital. Dr. Neff said it is probably good to go home so I am not exposed to other patients in the hospital.

A follow-up appointment will occur about three weeks later. I asked about motion sickness after implantation, my brother Scotty had a bad case of it. Dr Neff said it does not happen often with his patients. I am planning to go home to Sheboygan with my parents after the surgery to recover. Hopefully I will be up for the six hour car ride! Then, I got another informational brochure on the implant.

That was it! I am all set for this surgery! I don't think it has really hit me that I am actually doing this. I think as time gets closer it will become more real. I am excited and very nervous at the same time. Thanks to my family and friends for reading and all of your support!