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!

Heather's Graduation from Cal State Fullerton!

The proud parents & happy husband with the graduate!

Jeff has been so supportive of Heather!

The proud graduate! She got her degree in Liberal Studies, which is a "smattering" of lots of topics, ancient history, art, philosophy, geology, etc. perfect for K-8 teachers.

Rob, Karen & Jeff Himes with the graduate!

Her grandparents made the effort to come. We ended up walking a lot and sitting in the bleachers for 1 1/2 hours before the program started. Fortunately we brought stadium seats so we could lean back.
Ages-Jerry 90, Gma 83 & Gpa 87. Lookin' good, huh?

Heather's Graduation Party today

Robin & I got visit for a little while, while the 2 Ukrainian
seminary graduates played ping pong.

Igor & Elijah are part of a group of Ukrainian graduates, who are pastors & teachers, who came to the US to walk in Talbot Seminary's graduation ceremony on May 29. One of them is staying with Robin & David for the week.

Heather greeting Aunt Robin at the party today.

Here is the 100-year-old gown that Great Aunt Lola Taber purchased in 1911 to graduate from Whittier College. We figure that 17 or 18 family members have worn it to graduate from college.
Heather by the table of goodies.

Grandma & Grandpa came to both the graduation & the party!

About 20 people came to wish Heather well. :-)

Our First Stop-Serendiptiy Ranch B&B in Oak Glen

The lovely koi pond at Serendipity Ranch B&B in Oak Glen, CA

I never pass up a good out house!

The beautiful home where we stayed.
The room at the right was our Victorian bedroom for one night.

8 acres of peace & tranquility

Our cute bathroom

A view into the large living room.
The dining room off to the left is where we ate our delicious breakfast.

We enjoyed the beautiful sunset before going into town for an early dinner.

In innkeepers, Bill and Nina Foster made us feel right at home.
Here they are in the gift shop in their home.
The next morning it was cold and foggy out.

Our lovely breakfast

Kirk relaxing by one of the huge sliding glass doors. There were chipmunks, birds and other animals outside to watch.
This is one of few kid friendly B&B's. It has llamas, sheep,
deer, lots of caged birds and other fun animals to walk and feed.

And Then We Went to Indian Wells & Palm Desert (Renaissance Esmerelda)

Most of the wild flowers were finished making their beautiful display,
but we had fun walking around here off Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

We went to the Moorten Botanical Gardens in PS, which is a cactus haven.
Look at these weird cacti!

Now that's one big Agave plant!

The cute couple

Here are Esther and I outside the lobby at the Renaissance Resort where we stayed.

By the pools at nighttime. We sat out here on couches and chatted until 11:00 pm.

View from our room

These windmills are HUGE!! We drove up next to this one.
The propellers are 35'-40' long each!

Palm Desert on Dwellable

Some Recent Views From Our Front & Backyard

The sun had just risen when it "lit" this lantern in our back patio.

We're suckers for beautiful clouds & sunsets!

This rainbow actually ended in our neighbor's yard!
I got wet taking this picture, but it was worth it.

It's not too often we can clearly see all 7 colors in a rainbow.

Our peach tree is really loaded with blossoms. I can hardly wait!

We love this "bleeding heart" tree in our front yard.
There's another name for it, but I like this name.
Our local hummingbird likes it too.

Nathan, Carol, Ellie, Simon & Penny Shackelford came for for dinner on their
visit from Illinois. So nice to see them again!

The "La Habra Glow" on the buildings in Brea above the 57 Freeway.