If you've been reading this recently, you'll know that Jonica was due to have surgery on Mon 11th August to receive a cochlear impact in her left ear. It happened, it all went ahead, it's just taken me a while to get around to writing about it, but I want to do it while it's all relatively fresh in my head. She was very excited about receiving the implant - until it was actually time to go to surgery - and spent most of the 2-3wks prior asking for it, or asking when she was going to get it, or saying she needed it!
So finally Mon 11th August arrived. Daddy took the boys to school, I quickly packed our bags, my dear friend mc dropped in for a quick chat and then, before we knew it, it was time to go. We arrived at the hospital about 10:45am, Daddy dropped us off, and we found our way to the Children's admission desk. We checked in and they took us to our bed, which was in a room shared with two others. Jonica had to fast from the previous night, which meant i did too, so I had to politely decline when they came round offering lunch...*sniff*...
Her surgery was scheduled for 2:30pm, so I didn't bother making her have a nap - figured she was going to get one anyway! Thankfully each bed has a TV, so we switched on ABC4Kids and she was set. The anaesthetist came around to do her final checks, and then it was just a waiting game.
They did come and get us at 2:30, so thankfully we didn't have a long, drawn-out wait. Down to the Pre-op room, which was decorated amazingly (see photo!), where we had a quick visit from the surgeon who marked which side they were doing with an arrow and his initials - just to make sure! Lots of toys for the kids to play with so there was little stress involved, which was lovely. Then, about 2:50pm, time for the anaesthetic...
Unfortunately, last week's experience in Toowoomba was still fresh in Jonica's mind. She had not been allowed to sit on Daddy then, she had been asleep on pre-medication and woke up on the way to theatre so was somewhat disoriented, which made for an unpleasant experience. She was not at all keen to repeat this experience, so despite being allowed to sit on me and sing songs, there was no way she was letting that mask anywhere near her face. Our anaesthetist was fantastic, spoke to Jonica entirely appropriately for such a little girl, and finally improvised using her own hand to get enough gas into Jonica to at least get her drowsy before bringing in the mask to get her off to sleep. Jonica was already tired from not having had a nap too; maybe that made her fight it more, but it meant that her body was certainly ready to rest! Once she was asleep I laid her on the bed, removed her ears - the left one for the last time ever - kissed her and left. *sigh*...
That was it. Nothing more to do but wait. And eat. Lunch! Great idea, over the road to Subway, 6" meatball, my favourite...now what? Well I figured my night may well be slightly disturbed, so I went back to our room and lay down to try to rest a little before they called to say she was finished. It was right on about 4:30pm when they called, so very close to the 1.5hrs they said it would be, then it was back to the Pre-op room...not entirely sure why. After waiting a while, and watching the nurse go home (!), the surgeon came through to let me know how it had all gone. Beautifully, apparently, no problems, oh and by the way here's the pack of manuals etc. that comes with the device, time to go wait in the Parent Lounge til they call you through to recovery.
Found the Parent Lounge...and I'm a sticky-beak, so i open up the pack of manuals. Warranty, Important Information, Surgeon's Guide...pardon?!? Yep, a step-by-step surgeon's guide on how to perform cochlear implant surgery, including special considerations for children. Great, that's what I need right now! "Drill these holes with a 2mm diamond burr" sure, right, a bit of light reading for later... Not much else useful in the pack, put that away...and wait.
Well, I was the last one in the Lounge and the first one out! About 5pm the anaesthetist came to collect me and took me around to Recovery...and there's Jonica, all bandaged, lying very still, trying very hard not to be awake.
Once they were happy with her (not entirely sure what they look for, stable vitals I suppose? Consistent heartbeat and good O2 saturation?) we were taken back up to the ward, where it was nearly the end of dinner time. I quickly grabbed Jonica some dinner before they packed it all away, and she gladly ate some fish and chips...but sadly her tummy didn't think that was such a good idea after a General Anaesthetic, so it eventually all returned :-( She was in slow motion that evening, everything was about half its usual speed, and she was attached to a drip for fluids and antibiotics which made getting to the bathroom slightly tricky! She was very good though, and made her move in plenty of time every time - no mess! About 7:30pm she decided it was bed time, and I heartily agreed. Sadly, the little girl in the bed next to us didn't agree, and fought sleep somewhat noisily until about 10pm. I was able to get some work done, but was concerned for a while that I might not be able to get to sleep! I was glad when she finally dropped off.
We had a pretty good night, Jonica was woken for medication around 11pm but went back to sleep easily and slept through til nearly 7am. Breakfast was enjoyed and stayed where it was put, and everything was back to normal speed - fast! Our surgeon visited about 7:30am to remove the large bandage, and was pleased with the wound behind her ear. Jonica enjoyed the colouring book the Radio Lollipop people had left for her the night before, and then settled in for more TV. I don't like to let our kids watch too much TV, but i didn't really want her running around straight after surgery either, so had to make a concession...
About 8:30am we were taken over to the Adult hospital for a check x-ray. They like to check the position of the implant before letting us go home so that they're sure it's in the right place. Jonica was very unsure of the x-ray as the last few procedures she'd experienced had involved anaesthetic and discomfort, and she wasn't buying the "it won't hurt" story. Funny, cos I had tried to be very real with her about both the teeth and the ears, making it clear that she would have a sore head for a few days after getting her implant but that we'd give her medicine to help it feel better. I tried very hard not to sugar-coat anything so that she knew she could trust what I said, but she still didn't believe me when I said this would be quick and wouldn't hurt. Fortunately I was allowed to stay right beside her and hold her hands, so I finally got her to lie down under much protest and the image was taken quicker than you can say Jack Rabbit. We were waiting to be taken back to the ward by 9am!Incredible technology. X-ray taken digitally, sent (emailed, I guess?) to our surgeon who could look at it on his computer wherever he was, decide if it was ok, then give us the all-clear to go home. That came through about 10am i think, but we just had to wait a little longer to have the last rounds of medication (antibiotics and anti-nausea). Daddy came and picked us up about 12pm, so about 25hrs later we were headed home. Jonica had really started to sag by then, so fell asleep in the car.
So, despite the initial bouts of vomiting immediately after surgery, she's had no real ill-effects. There have been no major balance problems, just the occasional misstep; we had to keep her head dry til Friday so that the wound didn't get wet; alternating Panadol and Nurofen for a while to manage pain and swelling, but otherwise a smooth ride. No more MRI's (unless the magnet is removed first), no going through the large airport scanners, and she may set off the anti-theft devices in shopping centres...
Everyone wants to know if she can hear better. Well, we have to wait and see. The surgery was to place the internal part, the receiver and electrodes, we now have to wait for the swelling to go down before we receive the external part, the sound processor. That's the bit with all the smarts in it, the bit that makes the whole thing work...the bit which will tell us if she can hear better. It will take a while for her to adjust to the different sound and for her left ear to "learn to listen" again since the implant sound is not natural sound, but simply switching it on will be the first step. And then a whole new journey begins!
Post-op appt scheduled for Tues 19th Aug, but I'll deal with that in another post...
