Activation Day

The surgeon gave the all-clear! First the audiologist had to "map" all 22 channels of the electrode and program everything. This took about an hour and consisted of a series of beeps that Dan had to hear. Then she turned everything on and the video below is an edited version of the first 10 minutes of sound!

Surgery Day

Yesterday we arrived at the hospital at 5:30 and checked in to the prep area. Dan and I were in the prep room for about two hours, answering questions, filling out forms, getting gowned etc. We met most of the team including the resident that was assisting and a med student who would be observing. They wheeled him away around 7:30 and gave him the anesthesia. Once he got to the OR the last thing he remembers is seeing about 13 other people in the room in masks scrubbing in and getting ready.

I went to wait in the surgical waiting room with Dan's dad Tim. They gave us a pager and an ID number. They project all the ID numbers on a big screen with color codes so you know what stage they are at. There were about 30 other people in OR rooms at the same time as dan, so they have a well oiled machine there! Once they got him to the OR it took about an hour before they began the surgery in order to prep him and get him in the right position, the surgery itself took about 2.5 hours. 

The surgeon came out and talked to us while they were closing him up and said that the surgery went well or "unremarkable" as they say. He said there was minimal CSF fluid that leaked when they went in, which is a risk for Dan's particular cochlear deformity that he has had since birth, called Mondini dysplasia. Dan was concerned about this and did his own research and talked to the surgeon about it beforehand. They were able to take care of it quickly, so it wasn't a problem. He went to the recovery room for about an hour before we could see him. He was very alert and making jokes when we saw him! 

Two of Dan's friends stopped by (one a priest and the other is in the seminary). He was able to eat lunch and dinner while we were there and then we headed home about 7:30pm. He has a lot of loud ringing in his ear and some pain, but for the most part he is recovering very well. Now we just have to wait for activation day, which is on July 28th. They will take the stitches out then and the audiologist will turn on the device!

July 9th

Early tomorrow morning we head to UW hospital for Dan's surgery! We're supposed to arrive at 5:30am and surgery will take place at 7:30am. They have booked an overnight room in the hospital, just in case we need it, but most likely we'll be able to go home the same day. We'll update everyone as we know more.

Thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, and encouraging notes and letters! We feel so loved and thankful for all the support we've received from family, friends, acquaintances and even perfect strangers.  We feel the love!

Waisman Center Day with the Experts

Every year the Waisman Center at UW-Madison has a day with the experts on cochlear implants. We went a few years ago and it was really fascinating so we went again this year. Basically, there are several talks by researchers and audiologists that explain the state of the current research. They also have a panel of clinicians and implant recipients for the audience to ask questions. 

This year we had a new perspective since Dan's surgery is just over a month away! I think the main thing we learned this time is to trust the process and I think we're a little more confident now. One of the talks was on listening effort and how people with hearing aids must put forth much more effort and cognitive resources when listening than people with normal hearing.  This is mentally exhausting, reducing your ability to perform other tasks and ultimately affecting your quality of life. The implant has been shown to reduce the amount of listening effort.

Another big issue we've been thinking about is music. We've been told that the cochlear implant reduces your ability to appreciate music compared to hearing aids. This is because the implant only has a certain number of channels through which it processes sound and isn't as complex as normal acoustical hearing, which means that a lot of times you'll hear sounds like Minnie Mouse and Darth Vader with not much variation in between. 

It's a trade off. With the implant you can discern speech better, but you won't get those subtle variations in pitch which makes listening to music so enjoyable. The further you get into the cochlear the lower the pitch is (as the picture below depicts), but the electrode that is inserted during surgery can't reach the inner most part of the cochlear, therefore typical recipients hear everything in a higher pitch, making everything sound "digital" and ultimately making music sound a little weird. 

While Dan would be giving up some music appreciation, he would be gaining all the higher frequencies that he has never been able to hear. Things like the smoke detector, timers, even when the car beeps to let you know someone isn't buckled up - he'll be able to hear these higher pitches that he's never heard before. Hearing the smoke alarm alone makes the surgery worth it to us. 

The date is set!

July 9th. That's when it's happening.

We heard back from the insurance fairly quickly and then it took another month or so to get everything scheduled. Dan will have 3 preoperative appointments and then the surgery will be on July 9th. If everything goes according to plan he'll be able to come home the same day.

Now we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of summer!

Please keep us in your prayers!