8 Days Later...

And I'm almost back to normal! The dizziness slowly improved and I am now able to respond to the sound of my name at normal speed as opposed to turning my head very very slowly in whichever direction needed.. I'm no longer walking like an old woman either and can walk up and down stairs unaided now. I used to go up a stair at a time and had to hold onto the banister! Around about the 3-4 day mark I felt able to do things for myself again. I have been sleeping fine which is nice as it means I'm not tired during the day. I managed to do a trip around Tesco on Tuesday and I walked around Ely on Wednesday which was lovely as it was so nice to get out again. I did feel tired after these things but not overtired. I scratched my scar on the 2nd night whilst sleeping which made it bleed a little and now it looks worse than it should because of all the dried blood but otherwise all is healing well! I put my hearing aid in the implanted ear yesterday and turned it on and could hear... nothing. Absolute zilch. I already knew that I was going to hear nothing though because I couldn't hear Anthony screaming in my ear. This made me very upset and I had a little cry, it was so strange to realise I'm never going to hear naturally again in that ear. It did make me think whether I've done the right thing but now I just have to look forward to switch on date (which I don't have yet) and look forward to better things. I'm going to see Mr Gray on the 9th September for a check up and hopefully switch on should be shortly after that!

Friday 22nd August - my birthday!

I didn't eat anything at all yesterday, didn't fancy anything. I ate a few bites of cucumber from my sandwich as it had lots of moisture.. My mum ate my dinner for me! I got woken up today by the catering lady at 7:30am for breakfast and I'd ordered a croissant, yoghurt and special k cereal so this is what was put in front of me. I only ate the yoghurt and drank the orange juice. I wanted the croissant but couldn't face chewing it! Mr Gray came in about 8:30am and removed my bandage. This didn't hurt at all, I expected it to. He was very happy with the wound and said that the operation had gone very well, it was just under 2 hours long. He managed to get all the electrodes in and all the way into the cochlear so that's great. My hair was all over the place and had dried blood in it so I was not looking good! He also took off more hair than I was expecting him to but 'ce la vie'... I couldn't face brushing the tangled mess and I was still suffering from dizziness so I left it and walked out of the Nuffield with my mum and boyfriend - still wearing my pyjamas - at 10:50am. I made Anthony drive like an old woman on the way home as I was still trying to gain complete control of my stomach! I turned 23 today but didn't feel like celebrating it. I share my birthday with my younger brother who's 4 years younger than me and this evening he had friends round in the garden and they were drinking and having a good time. Unfortunately I couldn't join them! I'm staying at my parents for a few days as my mum wants to look after me which is nice. I've got purified water with a straw and anything I want at the drop of a hat! :o) Still not eating much and my tongue is numb all down the right side but I'd rather have this than a dropped face or one of the other possible side effects! I'm very lucky really..

Thursday 21st August - Operation Day!

As expected, I didn't sleep very well last night and was so glad when at 6am my alarm went off because I could finally get out of bed and get on with things! I didn't feel too nervous and packed all my stuff up and went to pick my Mum up with my boyfriend. We were a bit late arriving at the Nuffield at 7:30am but all was fine and I was taken to my own room very quickly and we settled in to wait for Mr Gray. I changed into my gown immediately and was given some anti-thrombosis socks which kept my legs warm! Mr Gray came around and said that he had two children to operate on first *groan* but they were simple operations so he hoped to have me in the theatre about 11:30am. That was quite a wait! We passed the time by watching the Olympics, laughing at the people on Jeremy Kyle and reading magazines and doing puzzles. What fun(!) 11:30am came and went and we joked about how Mr Gray is optimistic.. 12pm and the nurse came into my room and said "they were ready for me in theatre" ARRGGGHHH!! The moment of truth had finally arrived and I didn't run for the hills.. I wasn't allowed to have anyone come down to theatre with me so I hugged my boyfriend and my mum and said "see ya later"... Being put under was not a pleasant experience, two men pinned me down and put an IV into my left arm and then one of them said something which I didn't hear. The last thing I remember is saying "tens?" and a funny chemical feeling passing up into my head, making me feel sick. I think I went under with my eyes still open because I don't remember closing them! I was also crying at this point because I was alone.
Two hours later I came round in Recovery and couldn't see out of the bandage around my forehead. I panicked and the nurse wouldn't let me move it so I could see what she was saying and I felt sick anyway so I promptly threw up all over the side of the bed and probably hit the nurse with it all! Whoops... They decided to move me back to my room about half past two and I wasn't looking forward to this because I couldn't control the movement and lo and behold I was sick again into a kidney shaped bowl on the way to my room which was only 150 yards away! They stabbed me in the leg/bottom to inject anti sickness medication (despite the fact I had an IV line in!!) and this didn't work and they gave me two little painkiller tablets which I promptly threw up! I said to mum (who's got an implant too, implanted nine years ago) "You didn't tell me it would hurt THIS much!" as I was in quite a bit of pain around the scar. I was sick many times over the course of 4 hours, finally regaining control of my stomach around 6pm. I slept after each throw up bout and the rest of the day was as follows sleep/wake up and talk briefly/sleep until everyone left about 8pm and I slept well for the first night.

The night before...

There's an hour and a half to go before I'm not allowed to eat anything until after my operation. I plan to go and drink a gallon of orange juice or something sweet and I'll savour it hee hee! I can't believe Thursday morning is coming around so fast but I'm glad the waiting is nearly over. I'm still employing my favourite tactic which is to not think about it at all and I'm fine. Tomorrow morning when I walk into the Nuffield I'll feel very different. I've told Ant to take some photos so I can put them on here afterwards :o) I can't think of anything else to write!
Well that's all for now folks.. watch this space!

Two weeks to go..

This time in two weeks I'll be sleeping off the anaesthetic in my own room in hospital.. The thought of that does not make me want to run for the hills like it did the day I filled out the health questionnaire. I had an appointment at Nuffield on the 5th July to have an MRSA swab and I met the nurse who will be on the ward on the 21st and she answered lots of questions that I had about the day. What I need to bring with me, what I can wear into the theatre (nothing but my own cotton knickers!! And a hosp gown of course..), why we have to go in so early at 7:15am (so that Mr Gray can walk around and see everyone he will operate on that day.) Whether anyone can stay overnight (I'll probably be on my own.. ooh err.) and so on and so on. For some reason this chat with the nurse has really allayed my fears and I'm now feeling a mixture of tiny bits of excitement, quite a lot of nervousness but also a curious anticipation! This may change, of course, so just watch this space... :o)