Saturday, June 18, 2011

My Second Cochlear Implant Surgery

On Monday, 6/13/11 I had my 2nd cochlear implant surgery at St. Vincent Hospital in LA. It's across the street from the House Ear Clinic.
Here I am in my snuggly paper gown. They hooked it up to a warm air blower and I puffed up like a balloon. It's supposed to keep me warm and increase the circulation.
The surgery only took 1.5 hours this time.
And I am not as bruised & swollen as I was last time.
Here I am getting ready to go home.
My goofy turban reminded me of some of those ridiculous hats that were worn
recently at the royal wedding in England!
Kirk stayed home with me on Tuesday and Jerry graciously brought us sandwiches for lunch.
I slept most of that day, except for this brief lunch break.
Later that day, Kirk cut off the turban, carefully.

Mom & Dad brought over delicious homemade enchiladas for us for dinner. Yum!
Here they are looking at the graduation photo book I made Heather & my school yearbook which was dedicated to me this year.
Wednesday, Mina Taylor brought over a wonderful cheesecake which we saved
to share with our kids. Oh my, it was wonderful!!
That same afternoon Pati Gomez brought us salads-to-go from the
Corner Bakery for dinner. So thoughtful!
This is the wound with the tape which I cannot get wet for 8 days.
My hairdresser, Shoreh, washed my hair for me on Friday.
Ahhh, I feel like a new woman!
So many people have helped us and prayed for me. Thank you to ALL of you and to the Lord for directing the surgeon & speeding along my recovery.
I am still goin' kinda slow & taking lots of naps, but each day I feel like
I have a little more energy. On July 7 & 8 I'll get hooked up with my new sound processor. So excited to get surround sound!

2 comments:

Rhonda Tommer said...

Thanks so much for sharing. So glad that you are doing well. And you're being fed well too.

Mike Yancy said...

Gretchen, I too am glad the surgery went well. I hope it's as successful as the first one was. I am about to buy a new hearing aid. It's time. This one is getting tired.