Friday, April 30, 2010

Surgery?

I mentioned before the possibility of a surgical implant to help restore hearing on my right side. I did have additional hearing evaluations done awhile back and it has been determined that I am an excellent candidate for this surgery. We are still waiting to hear if the insurance will approve this and how much of the cost they will cover. Right now, though, I am leaning toward having this done, depending on the answer from the insurance company.

Apparently it is pretty delicate surgery. Once the implant is placed, the healing time is generally three months before I can use the receiver, although sometimes it is much less (closer to six weeks). That means if I get it done soon, I will be able to start using the receiver in time for the next school year.

They will have to shave my head in the area where they will be operating. The surgeon was very apologetic about this and I kept reassuring him that it really wasn't all that important to me. After all, hair grows. Good thing I've gone to shorter and shorter hair styles lately!

So, stay tuned for the final decision. There is a group online for people with this kind of implant and they are very enthusiastic about what this implant has done to help restore their hearing. It does sound, though, like the recovery from the surgery does take some time and I should plan for some down time for at least the week after the surgery. Down time isn't usually on my agenda so I will need to plan ahead for that :-)

4 comments:

  1. To regain hearing in a deaf ear would be a magnificent gift; praying it will be a reality!

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  2. Wow! That's exciting, though you functioned extremely well with the hearing on one side. Get some good reading for your down time and just enjoy it. I really enjoyed the book The Help if you need suggestions :-)

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  3. I think that would be awesome if you can get the surgery done. And hey, one-sided shaved heads are popular nowadays, so you could just say you were trying to fit in with the style! ;)

    Seriously, I'll keep you in my prayers. I know that if it were me, I'd want to be able to hear, but I'd be nervous about surgery, so I'll pray for your peace of mind with each decision you have to make in this process & that everything will work out to allow you to recover easily if you do the surgery.

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