Some good news! :)
I may have a surgery date! For now it looks like it will be on Thursday, August 28th....at 1 PM (it is not 100% definite at this point...but I'm being optimistic). I wish it were sooner...but that's OK...July is really a busy month and I have a lot to do to get the kids ready for school (they start August 8th). The way that day falls, hubby will only have to take one day off work...it's the long Labor Day weekend...I should be ready for him to go back to work on that Tuesday after the surgery (I'm being optimistic and hoping that I don't have a repeat of the vertigo I had with this ear last time!) I have issues with the time already...I will be allowed no coffee and nothing to eat and I anticipate being very irritable...but still...I'll gladly take it :)! That will give me plenty of time to sleep until around 9 or so and get to the hospital on time, even if I do accidentally take the scenic detour.
I heard my first negative comment the other day...someone suggested that I might be expecting too much from a revision. I'm going to go through this again...one more time...and be done with it. In terms of hearing, quite frankly, I was not surprised with what I got the first time around. My audiologist was actually against implanting that ear first, because I had been deaf for over 30 years in it and already had a strong vibrotactile response. During the CI evaluations I was required to put a hearing aid in that ear and listen to the tones to establish that I couldn't hear with that ear. When the first tone came on it was all I could do not to yank the hearing aid out of that ear...the vibrations just about blew my head off. Some people do get sensations with their CIs...it's possible my brain may have just rewired itself a bit differently after being deaf for so long. CIs, as near-miraculous as they are, have their limitations...a stubborn brain is hard to work with. And, you know...if that's the case, that's OK...I'll know for sure that that's what it is and can decide if I want to aggressively pursue trying to hear with all that pounding going on. But that's not the main reason why I'm doing this.
The main reason I'm doing this is because something is obviously not right inside my head. When I first had the surgery done I first had to deal with the incision...when that healed up I figured I was good to go. Unfortunately, I always felt a lot of pressure inside that ear, and that hasn't improved...in fact, it's gotten worse. There are a lot of nights that I have a hard time finding a comfortable position to sleep in and then once I do, I often wake up tossing and turning to find a great spot to sleep on. It's on my sleeping side and it's just too hard to deal with. I didn't know for sure that that wasn't normal until my second ear came along and was incredibly different...that ear is a joy...no sensation at all...if I could only learn to sleep on my right side!! I have no idea what's going on....but I am almost positive that taking the implant out and repositioning it will stop that pain and I will be able to SLEEP again! This girl takes her sleep very seriously!
If by some chance repositioning the implant gives me "normal" hearing...I'm not denying that would be awesome. However...frankly, I am not optimistic. There is a chance, though...and we're going to take it. If changing the implant's position even a millimeter or two makes any difference at all in the sensation I feel...it's worth trying :). But as far as expectations go? I have none. I just wanna be able to sleep again...all night...without waking up with a headache! I think I can expect that to get better...THAT is what my expectation is. I know it's a bit odd and all, but hey, people, this is me we're talking about...I am nothing if not a bit off-beat :).
Will let you all know if anything changes...but for now, August 28th it is...I'm ready!
I heard my first negative comment the other day...someone suggested that I might be expecting too much from a revision. I'm going to go through this again...one more time...and be done with it. In terms of hearing, quite frankly, I was not surprised with what I got the first time around. My audiologist was actually against implanting that ear first, because I had been deaf for over 30 years in it and already had a strong vibrotactile response. During the CI evaluations I was required to put a hearing aid in that ear and listen to the tones to establish that I couldn't hear with that ear. When the first tone came on it was all I could do not to yank the hearing aid out of that ear...the vibrations just about blew my head off. Some people do get sensations with their CIs...it's possible my brain may have just rewired itself a bit differently after being deaf for so long. CIs, as near-miraculous as they are, have their limitations...a stubborn brain is hard to work with. And, you know...if that's the case, that's OK...I'll know for sure that that's what it is and can decide if I want to aggressively pursue trying to hear with all that pounding going on. But that's not the main reason why I'm doing this.
The main reason I'm doing this is because something is obviously not right inside my head. When I first had the surgery done I first had to deal with the incision...when that healed up I figured I was good to go. Unfortunately, I always felt a lot of pressure inside that ear, and that hasn't improved...in fact, it's gotten worse. There are a lot of nights that I have a hard time finding a comfortable position to sleep in and then once I do, I often wake up tossing and turning to find a great spot to sleep on. It's on my sleeping side and it's just too hard to deal with. I didn't know for sure that that wasn't normal until my second ear came along and was incredibly different...that ear is a joy...no sensation at all...if I could only learn to sleep on my right side!! I have no idea what's going on....but I am almost positive that taking the implant out and repositioning it will stop that pain and I will be able to SLEEP again! This girl takes her sleep very seriously!
If by some chance repositioning the implant gives me "normal" hearing...I'm not denying that would be awesome. However...frankly, I am not optimistic. There is a chance, though...and we're going to take it. If changing the implant's position even a millimeter or two makes any difference at all in the sensation I feel...it's worth trying :). But as far as expectations go? I have none. I just wanna be able to sleep again...all night...without waking up with a headache! I think I can expect that to get better...THAT is what my expectation is. I know it's a bit odd and all, but hey, people, this is me we're talking about...I am nothing if not a bit off-beat :).
Will let you all know if anything changes...but for now, August 28th it is...I'm ready!
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