11. Meet the team

Mr Robinson and the Bristol CI Team

My inspiration for these blogs has been the numerous other blogs written by CI recipients across the world.  Today I came across a blog written by Graham and it attracted my attention because he was treated by the CI team in Bristol under the leadership of Mr Philip Robinson just like me.  And just like me he actually lives in Cheltenham.  Small world.  Graham’s implant was featured on the BBC programme See Hear and his blog contains a 9 minute extract which shows his and my experience at Bristol. The only difference is that he was trolleyed to the theatre and I had to walk!  I hope the outcome for me is as good as it was for Graham.  So with thanks to him, type this into your browser and meet the team.

http://graysdeafblog.wordpress.com/my-cochlear-implant-movie/ http://graysdeafblog.wordpress.com/my-cochlear-implant-movie/

Blog 10. Post Op

Two days after the implant and I’ve not felt well all day.  It’s nothing much but it’s there all the same.  Although I’ve been climbing up a step ladder to paint walls without incident I’ve also not felt as secure as usual. No balance issue in an obvious way but a little uneasy.  This morning I felt my mouth and sense of taste was improved as I ate breakfast but as the day has progressed I’ve become conscious of my tingling tongue and the distorted sense of taste.  My Teeth or gums on the implant side also feel like they are anaesthetised. When I drink water or orange juice the liquid feels glutinous on my tongue. More like drinking yogurt or double cream.  Wine or coffee feels more like a normal liquid.  I’ve noticed that my implant ear sticks out more than the other one and is also more red. There’s a slight ache to it too on the inside but nothing too bad.  All told I feel a bit under the weather and wonder if it’s all a delayed reaction.  All the advice about taking things steadily for a few days or so is beginning to have relevance.

Five days after the operation I’m experiencing most of the things I was told to expect. I’ve mentioned my mouth and that continues but sometimes I feel it’s getting less noticeable.  For instance I have a good appetite and enjoy food and most of it tastes fine. I am getting shooting pains in the vicinity of the cut however.  It’s not continuous and I think that is just part of the healing process. Unfortunately I like to sleep on my tum with my head turned to one side and the down side for my head is where the implant is. So I have to try sleeping in different positions but last night was much better and for quite a lot of the time I slept with the implant ear on the pillow.  I now have a follow-up meeting at BRI and also a switch on date exactly one month from the operation date.

Blog 9. Implant Day.

Implant Day

It was a very early start for us to be at Bristol Royal Infirmary by 7.15am but following the pre-op day everything seemed familiar and we were soon called from the waiting area to a bed in a preparation area where I was put through the usual checks before dressing in an hospital gown, my dressing gown and slippers. During this time I was attended by two very pleasant nurses and met the registrar, the anaesthetist and Mr Robinson, the consultant who would be inserting the implant. Eventually the moment arrived and as the theatre was just along the corridor I followed a nurse on foot to find myself in the high-tech world of an operating theatre.  I was invite to lie on a bed/trolley and the anaesthetist told me that he would send me off gently as he inserted a cannula.  That was very true. I was able to scan the whole of the room as people prepared for the operation and as I did so a gentle sleep overcame me.

I awoke gently too with an oxygen mask on, a blood pressure monitor squeezing my arm and my finger hot with the pulse monitor. It took about fifteen minutes to become fully alert when all of the accessories were removed. I felt no discomfort at all but my head was in a huge bandage.  I was given the option of going home the same day and I chose it. So off to x-ray next to check that all was in the right place and then I was parked in another ward waiting for the bandage to be removed after four hours. I think I was in theatre for two and a half hours. My wife returned from a shopping trip in Bristol and at 3.30pm the bandage was removed and I was discharged with a strange hairdo and a pack of antibiotics. There was a slight ache at the site of the incision but nothing more and I was able to walk easily. All of the people I met were simply fantastic. They were friendly, informative, patient and kind and most of all involved me in what was going on. I felt in a way part of the team and valued as an individual. As I write this on the day after the implant I feel very well. I had a restless night’s sleep because, in my opinion, I had had a good sleep under the anaesthetic so didn’t feel tired.  The only after effect I can record is that my sense of taste has altered.  Things taste slightly metallic so less appetising and my tongue tingles very slightly especially on the right side. Perhaps it will wear off.  It will take a few weeks for the wound to heal completely before I return for the switch on. I’m feeling very positive about that.  As for the incision – it seems to be about three to four inches long and curving round behind my ear.  There are stitches in place and on top some sort of tape.  The weird hair do was caused by the use of gel which was used to sweep my hair upwards away from the cut.  In order to wash my hair I cover the ear with a plastic cup and by doing this my hair was restored to normality. They did a great job of minimising the cosmetic damage and I reckon most people would not notice that I’d had the operation. 

Blog 8. Pre-Op

Had the pre-op today.  Tina was the nurse doing it and she was clearly used to implant patients – I could lip-read her easily.  A lot of the usual medical questions were asked and answered, a sample of blood taken, an ECG given and for good measure I was weighed and measured. All was well so all I’ve got to do now is worry about the actual operation, parking on the day and the lack of an O2 mobile signal to call home. Lisa was a mine of information. She covered everything I could expect to happen on the day, so no surprises.  They will do up to four implants on the day so I could be called early morning or around lunch time. I will definitely be staying overnight because they want to x-ray me to make sure the implant is in the right place. Because I can’t hear there will be no soothing nurse’s voice to wake me but instead a tweaked cheek.  Although my hearing aid has to be removed during the operation they will replace it before I do wake up so perhaps I will hear the soothing voice. I was told that I should not experience much pain but there could be transient head pain and perhaps tinnitus.  There is a chance that a facial nerve will be affected leaving me with some tingling on my face.

Blog 7. Time and Date.

TIME AND DATE

A few days after the balance test I received two letter from the hospital.  One called me to a pre-op assessment and the other was gave the time and date of the actual operation.  I’m down for an early start, 7.15am in two months time.

As the operation gets closer I’ve returned to checking on the Internet for information and thoughts from others. I came across some YouTube videos of the actual operation and I almost wish I hadn’t seen them.  All the gory detail is there with a great deal of drilling going on.  It’s no worse than watching hospital soaps on TV but much easier to identify with the blood and  gore when it might be yours. The YouTube links took me away from that to a much more encouraging area, videos of children and adults being switched on for the first time. It’s a moving thing to watch and a great reminder not only of the brilliance of CI’s but also of the impact being deaf has on so many people.

I haven’t had to wait long for my operation.  Much of the waiting time has been taken up with the necessary protocols, which lead up to the operation itself. But it can’t come soon enough really.  When I am with people I know who face me when they speak on a topic I’m aware of I manage quite well and most of the time I am with these people. It’s when I’m in less familiar circumstances that the extent of my hearing loss becomes all too apparent.  A stranger engaging in an impromptu conversation can leave me completely lost and more often than not I guess, nod my head and pretend I’ve heard rather than cause offence or deter future conversations. When it becomes clear that I’m not going to get away with this I have to come clean and ask the person to repeat the words and then repeat the words again. If my wife is nearby or a friend I am used to hearing I turn for a ‘translation’ at the risk of making the original speaker feel they are the problem.

Today I called into the chemist’s with a prescription. A simple thing except that this time the assistant began to ask how often I picked up prescriptions and went on to describe a service offered to make things easier. Well I think that’s what she was on about and she didn’t seem too upset when I said I was happy with things as they are so I must have guessed correctly what she was saying.  But as I wandered out of the shop I did wonder what it was that I was actually missing.  Whilst waiting for my prescription to be made up I called in to a local supermarket.  At the checkout all went well until I was asked a question.  I thought it must be some sort of offer the checkout person was on about so said no thank you. He smiled and repeated the ‘question’.  Still unable to understand I told him I was deaf by way of explanation. Other customers in the queue behind me were showing signs of amusement by now. Once again he repeated himself and I moved closer because this was now becoming an important issue.  Then I got it. “Enjoy the rest of your day,” he had been saying.  A minor courtesy becomes a major communication issue.  The cochlear implant can’t come soon enough.