I'm next!

Boult said:
YIke I got lost while reading.. wished you break them into paragraph oh well..
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LOL. Sorry 'bout that. I'm still quite medicated & all. :P
I'll break it down in a bit. :)
 
deafmama

welcome home :) glad your doing fine since you got home :)

yes I can understand with these medications talking.. LOL I do that too sometime in past.. I remember when I had my hysterectomy they gave me drips of morphines too oooo lalalala land! but never had one for my ci.. perhaps I slept too much too on my first night at hosp.. my Dad and jean (his wife) came to see me.. I was soo in and out all afternoon then dad and jean left to let me rest more.. next day my husband and his mom came to pick me up and bring me home.. i was soo wow.. felt great on some oral pain meds etc.. then Got home.. and husband went to cvs get my medications too. then he dropped it off at home and gave me meds then said see you later, I was puzzling why he was leaving me home all alone then I asked him where he was going to ? He said at the bogs ( the cranberry fields that his family owns) so I said OH no your not leaving me home alone your taking me where you all can keep eye on me, I will just sit down or lay on lounge chair he gulps.. LOL but then we got there and all I did was walk and walk and walk. I was so tired of sitting in bed allday at hosp.. and riding home 1 1/2 hour ride in car.. That was enuff so He walked around with me.. other relative take turns too hehe it was nice!

Sorry for rambling on too :)

Wendy
 
WOW mama that is some story!Kinda feel like you walked me through whats going to happen,good to know. Those are some Mad Powerful(as my teenage son would say)drugs you had.That much pain huh?UGH.I'm trying to follow post-you didnt have to stay overnight? Glad you are feeling better and its all behind you!
 
Deafmama78,

You pretty much summed up what I went through except, I was out before they moved me to the other table in the OR. I do remember the room and thinking one burned out light, this can't be good. I still hope it was just turned off. I don't think I tried fighting with the nurses after surgery but I don't remember and they didn't tell me. I do know I tried eating crackers instead of ice chips and my jaw hurt so bad I gave up after a quarter of the small cracker.

The only difference is I had my IV all night and did stay at the hospital until the next morning. The nurses and wife ganged up on me and told me that I had to stay. I couldn't drive and didn't have the keys so I could argue but that was OK. I remember I was out until around 2:30 pm and don't remember much until about 5:00 pm that evening with the exception of being wheeled up to my room and being told that I needed to move from one bed to another and thinking how the h___ was I going to do that. I can't even eat a cracker. You recovered a lot faster waking up around 12:30 and even went home the same day. I went in around the same time you did 10:00 am and left the next day.

This sounds very strange but I remember the feeling of the IV fluids and how it would keep me cool so I just kept blankets on to regulate my temperature plus they were still giving me antibiotics and pain medication that way. Once I got comfortable in the bed, I was great. Speaking of this, I remember joking with the nurse at either 10:00 PM or Midnight when she asked if I needed anything and I jokenly responded that I needed a bed stretcher thinking yea right. She pressed a button and low and behold, the bed got longer to my suprise. Slept great after that as I wasn't scrunched up. The only problem was that I had to get up every 2 hours to the minute to go to the bathroom.

Looking back on it all, what small prices to pay to be able to hear now.

Good luck with your recovery. Hope the pain goes away soon. Not sure if you remember but a couple days after surgery, my neck muscles got so sore, the only way I could move my head was by grabing my hair and pulling my head off the pillow with my hand. Don't be suprised if this happens. Lasted about 2-3 days then sore for maybe a week.

Steve
 
-you didnt have to stay overnight? Glad you are feeling better and its all behind you![/QUOTE]

Yep. I didn't have to stay overnight. I got there at 8:45, was late due to traffic. We left at about 3:45. But I was in not ready to leave. I remember crining at the thought of having to ride ni my van all the way home. Remember I live at least 45 mins from the hospital. So it SUCKED!!! I just wand to get the fuck home and was whining to my hubby "Hurry up, every damn bump & shit is painful!!!"

I'm doing well right now, still in alot of pain thoght but the Vicodin ES is taking care of it somehat. Oh and my right eye is all black, blue, and red and very swollen, almost to swollen shut.

So when the hospital called us this morning to check on me, my hubby told them about the swollen eye, so they were very surprised as it's not common. So they had me go all the way to another hosp & a Dr. who was in my surgery checked in and sad that my eye was fine, as I could see fine (when open) and I could move it fine. So he went and called my surgeon and my surgeon told them that "well in her report, she was fighting the nurses when she as coming out of anesthisa so she probably burst a vessel near her eye. Have her cal me Monday or thru the weekend if it gets worse." It's starting to get a lil better as I can open it more.
 
Looking back on it all, what small prices to pay to be able to hear now.

I agree. Yesterday I kept saying "Why did I go thru my CI surgery if Im gonna be in so much pain that even the stongest IV pain meds isn't helping ease it a bit?!" I wanted to DIE!! But I knew if I just would try to sleep it'll soon be over. Now I can sit here and say if it turns out that I can hear well, I'll say it was damn worth going thru all this!

Good luck with your recovery. Hope the pain goes away soon. Not sure if you remember but a couple days after surgery, my neck muscles got so sore, the only way I could move my head was by grabing my hair and pulling my head off the pillow with my hand. Don't be suprised if this happens. Lasted about 2-3 days then sore for maybe a week.

You made me laugh a lil & that was hard to do, laughing with your head hurting.. ekkk. lol But yeah I'm having that awful neck muscle pain now. I use my hands or my dh's hand to pull me up cause it hurt like hell to even move my head in any directions.

My MIL just brought my daughters home and my youngest was like "What happened?" referring to my eye. lol. So Daddy sat her down and expained the best you can to a 4 yr old. :) My MIL seemed a bit overly happy that I had the surgery despite how awful I looked. lol.

I wanna wash my hair soooooooooooooo bad but I'm terrfied cause a big part of my right side of my head still hurts quite bad & s pretty much numb. I don't have much feeling on that side, same with my ear on that side.

What kinda stitches did you receive, Steve (and everyone else)???
Just curious.
 
Stitches???? What are those. They used medical "super glue" is the best I can describe it. No stitches. They told me not to wash my hair until I saw the Dr. after 7 days. I think this was because the glue could soften and we didn't want that to happen. After several days, my wife helped me wash my hair using a cup and being extremely careful. I'm just glad they didn't try to glue my mouth shut too even though my wife would probably appreciated it a little. haha. I don't know what I would have done not being able to talk.

The day after surgery for me, I still had my IV in and my wife brought our 7 year old daughter. I wanted to wait to have the IV removed while she was there mainly because my wife would have one during the birth of our child in March and I wanted to make sure my daughter saw me with it and that it was really no big deal so she would not freak out when she saw mom with one. It was a good educational experience for our daughter. She also watched them pull my bandage off so they saw the incision before I did which was kind of cool for her.

Be careful with lifting anything. They had me restriced to less than 10 lbs. Only once did I try to lift something heavier and I could hear some slight ringing in my ear when I did so I didn't do any of that for I think it was 2 weeks but may have been 4. Can't remember now. Once I came off the restriction, I did try to lift some heavier items and I could still hear the ringing a little and it was a funny feeling also. Can't really describe it but it was there.

Hope you start feeling better.
Steve
 
I had a stitches.. for 10 days.. then saw the doc.. the nurse removed it.. she stopped and looked at me like i did something wrong and said "do you feel like fainting ?" I said "no i m not.." she said "okay" then I start to feel like I was gonna pass out and I said "but i do feel like passout" she said "ok i will stop and get wash cloth" and she got it put on my forehead. so I asked her "how did you know?" she said well I pull and notice I hit your nerves soo i figure I check up on you. I was like wow.. they surely do KNOW when you are going to get fainted/pass out etc.. so I was glad I didnt pass out but I WAS IN THE CHAIR when they removed my stitches... :)


sore will be there for about a week I agree--- as I Know from mine. It just felt like someone punch my face.. thats all :)


Wendy
 
Glad all went well and I am sure u are looking forward to your activation! Good luck with everything. :)
 
Yep. I didn't have to stay overnight. I hope I get to go home after. But if I have to see dr. next day would rather stay than try to get into the city with all that pain!

{"well in her report, she was fighting vessel near her eye. Have her cal me Monday or thru the weekend if it gets worse." It's starting to get a lil better as I can open it more.[/QUOTE]WOW that is terrible with your eye! are you sure one of the nurse's didnt clock you a shot.:giggle: Hope it heals well for you quickly.
 
TAMI SAM said:
Yep. I didn't have to stay overnight. I hope I get to go home after. But if I have to see dr. next day would rather stay than try to get into the city with all that pain!

{"well in her report, she was fighting vessel near her eye. Have her cal me Monday or thru the weekend if it gets worse." It's starting to get a lil better as I can open it more.
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WOW that is terrible with your eye! are you sure one of the nurse's didnt clock you a shot.:giggle: Hope it heals well for you quickly.[/QUOTE]

Wow I worded things wrong the first time. Oh well, you guys got what I was trying to say. :)

The eye is MUCH better, the swelling went down & now it's just bruised that's it. :) Whew! I am still in pain and all but I'm ok.

I, too, didn't have stitches. I guess I got the dissolveable kind. My bandaid gets removed on Thursday when I see the PA. I'll see my surgeon in 3-4 wks, I guess on the same day of activation?

I'm impatient to know when activation day is so I can have a focus date to count on whenever I'm startinng to get whiny about the pain & stuff. I wanna be able to say "Only X more days!" yanno? :)
 
Glad that you are doing better and the eye swelling is going down.

I remember I had a sore neck too and then found that the best way to relieve it was to actually sleep on the implanted side. I reckon it was because my neck got support and the muscles relaxed. I seemed to recover quickly after that.

I stayed in overnight in hospital and was glad I did. They nearly kept me in another night for observation as my temperature was a bit high but it turned out to be nothing and they let me go.
 
R2D2 said:
Glad that you are doing better and the eye swelling is going down.

I remember I had a sore neck too and then found that the best way to relieve it was to actually sleep on the implanted side. I reckon it was because my neck got support and the muscles relaxed. I seemed to recover quickly after that.

I had turned my head while sleeping so I'd end up sleeping flatly on my back or my head slightly turned to my implanted side. My DH if he wakes up and sees it, he'll tell me to turn over because we were told I couldn't sleep on my implanted side & plus it feels kinda weird cause of the weird "bump" I feel on that side on the back of my head. I feel like someone blew up a little balloon and inserted it inside my head. lol. I do not like the way it feels at all and can't wait til it goes!!!

Oh and btw I did sleep on my tummy for a bit and put my right arm straight forward on the bed and kinda rested my implanted side on my arm and that helped a bit until it got annoying then I'd switch back to be on my non implanted side. Sleeping is NOT easy to do the past few days!!
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Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 3 days post op & I'm crying as I type this. I wanna take a shower soooooooooooooooooo bad & wash my hair. I feel all icky! Plus I'm in so much pain, meds aren't really helping much & all I wanna do is SLEEP. Fucking sleep & escape the pain!!! Grr.

Let's hope this sleep aid I just took helps & I get a few hours of sleep!

Sorry but I am in a bad mood. :(

Please don't let this post discourage those that are considering getting a CI. I'm just in a bad mood, that's all. :) And I'm sure in a few weeks I'll say that all of this is well worth it.
 
deafmama78 said:
Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 3 days post op & I'm crying as I type this. I wanna take a shower soooooooooooooooooo bad & wash my hair. I feel all icky! Plus I'm in so much pain, meds aren't really helping much & all I wanna do is SLEEP. Fucking sleep & escape the pain!!! Grr.

Let's hope this sleep aid I just took helps & I get a few hours of sleep!

Sorry but I am in a bad mood. :(

Please don't let this post discourage those that are considering getting a CI. I'm just in a bad mood, that's all. :) And I'm sure in a few weeks I'll say that all of this is well worth it.
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Awww vent away. I'm sorry the pain meds aren't working very well for you. I think you should contact the doctor to be sure because the pain should be less intense by this stage. Don't try and be a hero.
 
Yeah, I told my hubby to call and I guess he's gonna call tmr if I'm still having a difficult time sleeping. I'm still needing pain meds every 4-6 hours on the dot! And franky I'm tired of taking so much. It makes me feel bad that I'm even needing them. I don't like taking meds unless I really have to. I have to remind myself that I've got the right to take these after going thru surgery to receive my freedom to hear. :)

Let's hope tomorrow, 4 days post op will be a much better day for me and maybe I'll get my dh to help me wash my hair. He's a little afraid to, afraid that I'll be in too much pain to stand long enough to get my hair washed, as he knows it'd take a bit due to having thick curly hair. Good thing it isn't as long as it was in 2005 or we'd have to take several hours. LOL.
 
Deafmama,

Hang in there. I hope tomorrow is a better day for you. Have you tried different pillows or extra pillows?
 
deafmama78,

One of the best decissions I made was to ditch the tylenol 3 with codine and go with Motrin Regular strength. Two little pills was all I needed and it helped so much better than the tylenol. Seamed to help more with the swelling. I even think you may be able to take both, just check first. I know they did not want Motrin taken before surgery for like a week but after as I recall, it was free game and open season on the pain.

Several days is what I remember with the sharp periodic pain. Afterwards, it seamed to be more of an ear ache but not constant, just moments of sharp pain that would go away as fast as they came. Seamed to be more positional and pressure than anything else. Blood pressure seamed to also play a part for a couple weeks. If I would strain to pick something up, I would have the pain. Release the strain and the pain would go away very quickly of course as I recall. It has all but gone now after several months.

Keep notes as to when the pain is worse than other times. This may help the Dr. figure out if there is anything to be concerned about. Also, don't forget, just because you are feeling great in a couple days, don't ignore the restrictions. It was extremely hard for me. I couldn't help carry the groceries in for my wife. Well, she would let me carry the bread and eggs as long as they were not in the same bag. And yes, I was restriced to one bag at a time. Good news is I got lots of exercise walking from the car to the kitchen.

It took me a while to start sleeping on the implanted side mainly because it seamed like I could feel the electrode aray pressing into my ear which was funny but maybe it was more the fact that my outer ear had no feeling and just felt funny laying on it smashing it. How weird does that sound. I just touched my ear and it is almost back to 100%. There is still one very small spot that feels kind of different than it use to but I still say what a small price to pay to be able to hear.

Hope you get to feeling better soon and 4 weeks will pass quickly enough. It is a very long time I know. I was able to tell myself that I didn't want the processor on my ear while it was healing. Worked for me.

Steve
 
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