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!