Surgery Day: Thursday, April 18, 2013

At long last, the day of the surgery arrived!   I had to report to Sunnybrook Hospital at 6:30 AM, which meant that we had to leave Brantford by 4:30 AM.

I packed an overnight bag just in case, but apparently most people go home the same day, unless you have complications (e.g. extreme dizziness, nausea etc.).  It is very interesting to read cochlear implant blogs from around the world and see the variety of care paths that various hospitals and surgeons follow.  Length of stay ranges anywhere from same day here in Canada, to overnight in parts of the UK or the USA, to 5+ days in Germany!  

I was not as nervous as I thought I would be.  I was actually able to sleep the night before.  I think I was just exhausted from working 7 days straight, going to Toronto for a pre operative appointment on Monday, then spending 2 days frantically cleaning my house and buying groceries so that everything was ready.  I was extremely paranoid that we would not get on the road on time, and/or would encounter traffic along the way.  Therefore, my poor cats had quite the shock when 3 separate alarm clocks vibrated at the same time!  I'm pretty sure my neighbours felt the earthquake as well!  

My Aunt Liz came to my house, then we drove in my car to pick up my Mom in Hamilton on the way to Toronto.  It was quite a dramatic drive - crashing thunder, flashing lightening and a torrential downpour.  I was so frazzled I couldn't even remember how to turn on my cruise control and windshield wipers to help out my poor Aunt who had never driven my Civic before.

We arrived at Sunnybrook without incident, and parked in the parking garage that is directly in front of the main entrance.  It was nice not to have to dash across an outdoor parking lot and get soaked.  20 minutes early!  A testament to my Aunt's driving skills.  We easily found the pre-admission clinic, registered, and settled to wait in the waiting area.

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center

SIDE NOTE: Parking at Sunnybrook costs $25.00!  I suppose this is to be expected in Toronto.  It makes me feel silly for complaining about paying $60.00 a month for parking at the hospital where I work.

Entrance to the MGround drop off and pick up area for Surgical Services

When my name was called, I had to go to a locker area to put on a hospital gown, housecoat and booties - all familiar items from my job.  It was rather strange to put these on myself, instead of someone else! 

I then walked over to the pre op area, where there was a line of beds, but no signage to say where to go to wait.  I walked past the beds, towards what looked like the nursing station, and someone came over to me and said "I told you to wait back there! "(pointing at the chairs that were behind the door).  Of course - I didn't hear her as I walked by.  She said it with such snarky attitude, that it got my back up -so I said to her "You know, I'm here for a cochlear implant, which means I am deaf.  Therefore, I did not hear you.  It is not necessary to speak to me like that!".  She immediately looked contrite.  I just ignored her, then went over and plunked myself down into a chair.  Not a great start, but ah well.  Those people exist no matter where you go.  

After a few minutes, I was shown to my stretcher, where I settled down to wait with my Mom.  I was only allowed one person in the room with me, but eventually my Aunt was allowed to come in too.  A very nice nurse came and took my vitals, asked me a bunch of questions, and started up an IV.  It was a weird sensation to have an IV put in - especially when she flushed a bit of water through.  It felt cold going in.  

I was glad to be told that I could leave both hearing aids in, as the surgical team would remove them for me during the surgery.  It would be a bit bittersweet to take the right hearing aid off for the last time in 32 years, knowing that I'd never wear a hearing aid on that side for the rest of my life!

Phonak Naida Hearing Aids.  RIP right aid (on the left)

I said good bye to my Aunt and Mom, then was wheeled off in the stretcher to the operating room area.  The porter put a blue hair cap on me, then I had to lie in the stretcher with a great view of the "hub" of the OR - it looked so busy, with dozens of people milling around and looking at the giant computer screen which listed all the surgeries for the day.  I tried to look for my name, but it was too far away.  After a bit of a wait, I was wheeled to the front of the operating room suite "OR 14A".  I was left to wait (with a great view out the window) in my stretcher in trepidation for the next step.

I always thought that they would knock you out, then wheel you off to the operating room.  Not in this case!  It was a bit nerve wracking to wait there for someone to come.  Finally, the anesthesiologist came and asked me lots of questions - do I have any loose teeth, do I wear dentures, any problems with my neck, any allergies?  I think I was asked about 40 times if I had allergies that day!

All along, I was trying to get my consent form changed so that Dr. Chen (my surgeon) knew that I wanted to implant my right ear instead of my left ear.  When I was first assessed for the cochlear implant 2 years ago, Dr. Chen and the audiologist told me it did not really matter which ear was selected to be implanted.  Since then, the hearing in my right ear had dropped considerably, so my hearing aid audiologist here in Brantford suggested I consider implanting the right (now worse) ear.  For more information about my hearing loss, click here.  I wanted to change the form during my appointment on Monday, but I was told not to worry - that I could change it on the day of the surgery.  I asked the receptionist, who told me to talk to the nurse, who told me to talk to the surgeon.

Dr. Joseph Chen MD, FRCSC

I was getting pretty anxious because at this point, I still had not seen Dr. Chen, and they were talking about giving me the general anesthesia.  Then, 2 residents came - they were both very kind and patient.  I explained the above situation to them, and they understood completely, but said we would need to speak to Dr. Chen, and he isn't here yet, so we can't promise you anything.  One of the residents asked me "If you had your left ear implanted, would you still want a cochlear implant?".  After lots of discussion and phone calls, I resigned my consent form and the resident put tape over my left ear, and painted an arrow on my forehead pointing to my right ear.  I then felt much better.

I actually walked into the operating room suite, which was quite small and sparse.  I suppose I have been watching too many medical dramas on TV, as it was completely different from what I expected.  I was told to lay down on the table with my head in a little u shaped gel thing.  Another gel roll was placed under my knees.

The anesthesiologist was very nice, and made sure she explained what was going on every step of the way.  I was connected to the EKG, then was given an injection.  I was then told I would be "going to sleep".  I remember watching all the people standing around and thinking to myself - what is taking so long for me to be put under?

UPDATE:  I have been able to get a copy of my surgical report from a really neat service through Sunnybrook called MyChartTM.  If you want to read the report, click here.

The next thing I remember is waking up in a fog.  I had such a hard time opening my eyes and keeping them open.  When I was finally able to keep them open, there was a very nice male nurse right in front of my face talking to me.  I couldn't hear him or understand what he was saying because it's hard to lip read when you're still half asleep, but eventually he showed me his name tag.  It took a bit to wake up fully, then they wheeled me down to the post op area where my Mom and Aunt were waiting for me.

Waking up after the anesthesia.

I was able to put my left hearing aid in, which helped a lot.  They took me away to the X-ray department, which was a strange experience.  I kept falling asleep, and everything seemed to be taking a really long time, with lots of waiting.  I had to get off the stretcher and sit on a little stool, while pressing my head against a plate.

I was taken back to the post op area, where I kept falling asleep and waking up.  Had a bit of apple juice, which I eventually puked up later.  Thankfully, I was not as nauseated as I thought I might be.

My head and ear was wrapped in a very tight bandage.  My Aunt took some pictures, some of which I probably don't want the public to see - I looked a little out of it! My face and neck were quite swollen.

I won't be winning any beauty contests here.  But this is me more fully awake.

Lots of waiting with me drifting in and out of sleep.   Dr. Chen finally came, and said that the surgery went very well, and the X-rays looked "perfect" (I told him this was a good word to use in my case).  He had me make a duck face, blow up my cheeks, smile etc. - to check that he hadn't accidentally cut the facial nerve.  I mentioned that my neck was really painful - along the SCM.  He said that he had "injected" the muscle.  I was quite groggy throughout this conversation, so I think I misunderstood him, and thought he said that he had injected the muscle because my face started dropping during the surgery.  So, of course I freaked out a little - I kept feeling my face to make sure it hadn't started melting on one side or something.

The drive home was interesting.  It hurt too much to lie down, so I just sat up and kept falling asleep.  I could feel every bounce and brake.  Great timing - there was a big traffic jam on the way home, which was unfortunate because my Aunt had to be back in Brantford to take my cousin to her university information session at York (also in Toronto).

We made it back to Brantford in one piece.  My sister Jeralee brought me home, where I went right to bed - but not before she took a picture of me with my head all wrapped up.

At home after the surgery.

It was wonderful to arrive home, with the surgery behind me.  Four more weeks until "switch on", when I will find out if this has all been worth it.