Thursday, November 13, 2008

November 12th, 2008 - Left Ear Cochlear Implant

The day we've been waiting a LONG time for....

Today Carver got his first Cochlear Implant - Left ear.


This is the Ear they are going to Implant first - can you see the black "X"?




This is Carver a few hours after surgery.

The surgery took about 2 hours including prep time.  The doctor was pleased with how well the surgery went.  He said that Carver had a normal mastoid anatomy.  However, he noted that he had a poorly developed round window niche and membrane.  He said that he sees this often in small children with profound hearing loss.  I'm not sure if this is related to the extreme prematurity or what caused this.

Carver cried and whimpered the first 12 hours after surgery.  He got one dose of morphine (this probably wasn't necessary), tylenol, and motrin.   He woke up several times in the night crying for just a few seconds.  By morning, he acted like he felt much better.  He started running a low grade temp (99.0) about 4 hours after surgery.  The doctor wasn't concerned with the temp.  Carver's acting like his head is heavy or that he is dizzy.  I understand that their can be some blurred vision and dizziness the first few days after surgery.  So far, no complications.  We're looking forward to activation day - in about a month if he heals well.

Our first experience with St. Francis Hospital was very good.  The staff was all very nice and made our stay comfortable.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

2 comments:

Drew's Mom said...

Awesome news! Drew also ran a slight fever after surgery. If you are worried about it at all, give the doctors office a call.

Also, Drew had a really bad runny nose with bloddy discharge. It's just drainage following surgery. So, if that popps up this weekend, don't be too alarmed!

Christian and Lily's Mommy said...

Congrats! We also had the bloody nose and fever...hang in there! In a couple of days, he'll be back to his old self :)