This is the first entry in my CI journal. CI stands for Cochlear Implant. In this journal I will be writing often about my journey with the Cochlear Implant.
Tonight is my last night implant free. Tomorrow I will be waking up around 4 am, to take a bath and get ready to go to the hospital. My husband is driving me. We will leave the house about 5:30 AM and are to arrive at the hospital at 6:15 AM. The surgery is scheduled for 8:15 AM, and I am to talk to Dr. Baker, the surgeon, before it starts. The surgery will last anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, and I could wake up either in the afternoon or evening. I may or may not have to stay overnight, it depends on how well I do after the surgery.
I am only a little nervous. I am a lot more nervous about the recovery than I am the actual surgery itself. I learned that usually the first 48 hours of recovery are the worst. There are a lot of things going through my head, mostly me wondering how things are going to be and envisioning how they may be. I just want it all over with.
I have cleaned the house, so that stress is gone. It is now ready for whatever visitors we may get, and it will be nice to have a clean house to recover in. So I’m happy about that.
My Mom and Grandma, and maybe my Grandpa, were all planning on being there when I wake up from the surgery tomorrow. But to be honest, I kind of don’t want them there. I really appreciate that they want to support me and be there, but I’d be a lot more comfortable without them there. I tried to get them to stay home before the last time I was scheduled for this surgery in December, but they wouldn’t hear of it. But I am getting ready to call them in a bit and try again.
Well, I called them and they weren’t the happiest about it, but they were agreeable. I just explained that I didn’t really want a bunch of people around staring at me when I’m trying to wake up from the anesthesia, and that there wasn’t really any point in them being there if it wasn’t just to visit me, because my husband would be the one to make any decisions and stuff. My grandma was really the one that resisted more than anything, my mom didn’t really seem to care that much one way or the other. At least that’s out of the way. I can wake up and start recovering in peace.
So, the plan as of right now is for me and my husband to go to the hospital and I’ll have the surgery, when I wake up, my husband will make all the phone calls. He’s planning on calling Jenna and Kelly C., as well as my family. Then my family can decide what they want to do then, depending on whether or not I will be staying in the hospital or going home.
I don’t really know what else to write about at this point. That’s all there really is to say about the night before the surgery. Everything else will be written about in time, I am sure, as my journey with my new bionic ear continues.
