The Day After...

So it's been about 24 hours since I woke up from my anesthesia. It was such a relief to hear from the nurses, doctor, and family to hear that everything had gone well. I knew then that the hard part was over...and that in making it through the operation, I had already won half the battle.

My day started bright and early, around 7, as I had to be at the hospital by 8:30. For operation purposes, I wasn't allowed to eat anything before the operation, and for those of you who know me, that was definitely difficult! Surprisngly, I felt little to no fear, and was actually ready to go in there, have the operation, and begin the road to recovery. I had to spend about two hours at the hospital waiting before they wheeled me into the room. Both of my parents were there, as was my grandmother and three staff members from Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian. That was definitely a special moment as we got a chance to say one last prayer before the operation. They put an IV in and then Dr. Lambert stopped by to make sure everything was fine before the operation. I think around 11:00 they wheeled me into the OR...

Everything beyond being wheeled in to the OR is such a blur. I remember some of the nurses around my bed, getting the equipment ready and I remember trying to sit up a bit so I could see what was going on around me. I woke up around 3:00, having completed the operation successfully, and like i already said, it was an extreme relief and just a huge release of a lot of emotions...happiness, relief, and even a little shock that something that big was happening to me.

Recovery was pretty hard, but my parents and grandmother were still there, along with a few nurses helping m along. For some reason, my hearing in my right ear has been a little wierd, but I remember vague snippets of conversation going on around me, people asking how I felt pain-wise on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being severe pain. I told them I was about a 3 or a 4. I expected an extremely severe headache, but it wasn't that bad. There was some discomfort from the bandaid they had to put on my left ear to trap any possibly leaking fluid. Bsaically it looked like a bowl on my left ear (I'll post some pictures soon).

I did a lot better coming off of the anesthesia than I have in the past, but it was hard to get up and sit in a chair because there was a VERY large amount of vertigo...definitely not something I anticipated. I don't have much dizziness when I keep my head in the same position, but when I tried to sit up or move around, I kept getting hit with waves of dizziness. I still have that problem now, but after a few minutes it settles down again. Anyway, they got me in a chair and then eventually decided I could make it home. So, they loaded me into the wheelchair and got out of there. Again, I kept slipping off to sleep and the best way to ease the annoyance of the vertigo was keeping my eyes closed, so it really is hard to piece all the events of the day together.

After I got home around 5:30 or so, I went to bed and slept the majority of the evening. Woke up a few hours later, and had my first post-op meal (and not to mention first meal in 24 hours) consisting of strawberry ice cream and cold pizza (both were my choice!!). I wasn't up long, I think, because the medicine was making me pretty sleepy.

I had to go back to the hospital this morning around 8:00 for a follow-up. They removed the bandage to make sure everything was OK...and since it was, they decided it'd be ok for me to leave it off, which is definitely good news. Dr. Lambert and the rest could not stop telling us just how well I'd done in the surgery as well as my recovery. The stitches seem to be settling in nicely and should not be any problem. We also found out that when they tested the device in the OR, my auditory nerves were having a very positive, strong reaction . This definitely made me feel great, as stimulation from the auditory nerves is very important for a cochlear. We also had the operation videotaped, and I got to watch a little bit of it earlier at the house...pretty cool to see him inserting the device in my head!

After I got back from the hospital, I went straight back to bed. I just woke up about two hours ago (around 2:00) and have been watching TV and that sort o thing for the time being...I'm really feeling pretty good, just wish the vertigo was gone, because it is such a pain in the butt.

Can't wait to see some of y'all in the next few days...if you want to come by later this afternoon, give the house a call and mom can probably let you know if I am ready to see anyone! It's hard to talk for long periods of time, though, because when I open my mouth very wide, I can feel a little bit of discomfort where my left ear is...but that doesn't mean I won't be able to talk at all! I hav a feeling I'm going to be doing GREAT in the next 24 hours, so hopefully I'll be able to see ya!

Thanks again for the love and prayers...I was pretty nervous and worried in the last few months, but in the last week, just hearing the same thing over and over from all of you just made everything disappear.

I will probably post again soon once I am able to collect my thoughts together and actually manage to stay awake for more than two hours at a time...