Implanted Yesterday 12/8/08

Whew...what a day!

I have to say, for me, it was really hard!!

This time, our arrival was scheduled for 8:45 a.m. Okay, better for us parents. Particularly, Kurt! He tends to be more of the night owl and this was waaaaayyyy better than our last scheduled arrival time of 6:15 a.m.

We arrived right on time. Of course everything went much slower this time!! We didn't get taken back to the pre-op area for 45 minutes. We then hung out there......forever!! Honestly! The OR nurse came for her at 11:55 a.m. - another two and a half hours! Holy cow! Mikaela was amazing! She is such an angel! Never fussed or anything. Just hung out on our laps, watched TV. I, however, didn't hold up as well! I was starving! I couldn't eat in the morning - my nerves! Then once we got to the hospital, I felt bad eating when Mikaela couldn't! :-) Silly, I know! I did eat a half of PB&J I had packed about 11:30 a.m. It didn't go down easy...kinda forced it. Nerves!

We went over to the surgery waiting area and began reading. Kurt is reading Deaf Again - which is a really well written book about a local man who was born hearing, lost his hearing, went through lots with his journey with hearing aids and being in the hearing world. Upon reaching late teens/early adult, he chose to live fully in Deaf culture. It's really good! I am reading The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck. Loving it and almost finished.

Anyhow...back to the story...We were told that the surgery would take an hour and a half. Kurt was checking the board early and often! I didn't begin to check it really until 1:30. Then at about 1:45, we got a call from the surgeon. He said surgery went very well. Mikaela did great. He was able to get full insertion of the electrodes. Immediately, as we hung up, the CI audiologist was entering the area and filled us in as well. He said he fired up the implant and got readings across all frequencies. This means that placement was good and we are ready for the next step. Activation. Our appointment is New Year's Eve!

So, now we had to wait to go back to see her in recovery. They brought us back around 2 p.m. She was not good! Very cranky from everything. Real tears. She kept reaching up to her ear. The nurse gave her a shot of morphine in her IV and that stung going in. UGH! Mama was not happy. (This is the part that was so hard for me.) She then fell asleep until 4 p.m. She was a tiny bit better when she woke up - not much. I was nervous about driving home and that she might throw up. Kurt and I were dragging our heels getting out of there. We left around 5:20 or so. Sure the height of rush hour in the city and the South Street bridge closed yesterday as well....(for 2 years). Surprisingly, we were back in the area by 6:15.

Mikaela wanted to be held once we got home. The nurse said to start her on clear liquids, so we did. Apple juice watered down. She drank a bunch! 9 ounces or so. I tried to lay her in the pac-n-play in the family room because I was not comfortable leaving her 'unattended' in her crib! What if she pulled on the bandage or had a nose bleed or something (The nurse said that could happen as things drain and what not.) Anyway...she wanted no parts of the pac-n-play! I took her up to bed and within minutes she was snoring! Thank God. For many things today...

Throughout the night we were up lots. I set my timer to give her pain medicine every 5 hours. Then I woke up every time she moved a muscle. Otto decided to sneak upstairs around 1 a.m. I sent him packing back down to the kitchen. As I drifted off to sleep again around 1:20, I hear him sneaking up again!! What is the deal? That is so not like him. At 4 a.m. we had to change EVERYTHING. Because of the IV fluid and the 9 ounces of juice water I gave her...we had quite the leak! Gotta love scrubbing down the crib mattress at 4 a.m. Needless to say, I am looking forward to getting to bed at a reasonable time tonight! By 9 at the latest, I'm certain!

Today, Mikaela woke up much more like herself! The swelling in her face came down. She wanted to reach for and play with her toys. She ate all normal meals today. Well, normal for her. I would say she's about 85-90% back to herself. Just not as much 'talking' and laughter as usual. I am hoping to see that back tomorrow or so.

After her lunch, we took off the bandage. Grandmom was here and captured it all on pictures - as did I. The incision looks incredible. They barely shaved any hair. There isn't any swelling to speak of. So, it went as well as it could. :-) I'll post them soon.

Well, I am going to sign off for tonight. I will keep you all updated as best as I can. Thank you for following Mikaela's path.