Jean's CI Journey

I underestimated the impact of the Cochlear Implant surgery on my body.  I was told "it's day surgery, you'll be discharged the same day, and you'll be fine to go home on the train as long as you have an adult with you".  So I took that information and assumed, maybe a day or two of sleeping late and then I'd be back to normal. I've never had General Anaesthetic before, and certainly never had my skull drilled into(!), so had no idea how I would react. The reality is that five days after surgery, I no longer feel woozy, but I still feel so tired. I still have a numb left ear plus area around it (which is no doubt helping with the pain from the incision just behind the left ear!). My sense of taste is yet to return (occasionally I think I can taste something, but it's very fleeting), and about half of my tongue is still numb. I can't tip my head too far in any direction or I feel dizzy or have a strong uncomfortable feeling of pressure in my left ...

After a, let's just say, somewhat less good night's sleep than usual, we checked onto B ward at RNTNE at 7.25 this morning. I was first on the schedule, so everything happened pretty quickly: meeting Nish Mehta my surgeon, Raj the anaesthetist, and Maria my nurse. I went into surgery at 8.30am, and at 11.10am Nish came to speak to my Mum waiting on the ward. My Mum was very relieved to hear from Nish that "everything went perfectly and Jean behaved herself" (what naughtiness was he expecting me to get up to under anaesthetic? 😉) Me almost awake, 1pm He also said that it was a "full insertion" (he was able to coax the electrode all the way into the centre of the cochlea) which is great news, and hopefully means I'll hear more high frequency sounds with the CI device, which I'll never have heard before. I'm thankful for an impressively quick recovery from the General Anaesthetic this afternoon (fitness plays a big part in this, I'...

The day before surgery and in the middle of preparing for leaving the boys in Stuart's capable hands, I thought it might be helpful to jot down a few notes on what's going to happen... Tonight I'll head to London with my Mum, to stay overnight in an Airbnb. Tomorrow we have to be at the hospital at 7.30am, me with an empty stomach.  I don't do well without breakfast, fortunately the Airbnb is just 5 minutes walk from the hospital, so hopefully Mum won't have to deal with me collapsing on her halfway! The operation to implant my left cochlear should take place in the morning, typically 1.5-2 hours, but I'm told it can take longer if access to the cochlear is tricky (they have to squeeze past the facial nerve and the auditory nerve to get there), so it all depends on the exact positioning of these nerves in my head.  All being well, I should be discharged the same day, as this is a straightforward outpatient procedure that the surgeon carries out every week. ...

It was during a "chance" conversation (not that I believe things happen just by chance - but that's another conversation!) with my audiologist at a routine checkup in February 2017, that she asked if I'd ever been offered a Cochlear Implant, and informed me that I was likely to be eligible for one.  This was big news.  At the age of 35, to be told for the first time in my life that I might be able to hear better (woohoo!), but that this would involve an irreversible operation to have a cochlear implant, and months of re-training my brain to understand the new signals coming through the auditory nerve (eek!). No wonder I was left with very mixed feelings. Cochlear Implants were never offered to me as a child, when I was a frequent visitor to my local audiology department in the 1980s. CI technology was very new then, and was only offered to people who did not benefit at all from hearing aids. Over the years the technology has improved, as has the skill and expertis...

Lying ill in bed, just over two weeks before my scheduled Cochlear Implant operation date, I'm listening to some music on my phone. And Stuart's suggestion that I find some way to chronicle my CI journey comes to mind.  See, I can't just turn on any old music and listen to it. Too often, to me, it's just a clash of sounds, a disharmony of instruments, and a cacophony of noise from which I try but fail to pick out any kind of rhythm, tune, or vocals.  And if I do manage to find a song that has a prominent vocal track, with minimal instruments, then I have no way of understanding the words - unless I can read along (and even then I can get lost all too easily).  But there is some music I can listen to. Worship music from CDs that I spent hours listening to during my study and exam revision at university. Every afternoon I'd take a short walk through the University Parks, or along the river behind college, and listen to my CDs on a port...