Barb and I again drove up to Opelika a day early. This time we would stay two nights. We have been working so hard on preparing our house to sell and getting things sorted, packed and into storage that we were both exhausted. The plan was to eat snacks and veg out in front of the TV – the captioned TV, lol – get a ton of rest and go to the Surgery Center refreshed.

The surgery went off without a hitch and Dr. Blythe was very pleased. It’s an outpatient surgery, so after I woke up enough and got bandaged up – we headed back to the hotel.

The part of the implant that goes into the ear is a tiny spiral of metal. It straightens out as it slides into the curves of the cochlea, then the surgeon releases it to kind of float in space in there. Another part of the implant is attached to bone to anchor the device. The third part of the implant is just under the skin and is the place where my processor will attach. See bottom image.

Since it’s difficult to put bandages behind the ear, I have bandages plumply extending out of a cereal bowl sized cup that fits over my whole ear and straps over my head. It’s pretty goofy but sure protects my incision and tender spots. That stays on for three days.

I am sore and pain meds are managing it. The incision extends in a curve around my whole ear and is healing very nicely, per Doctor Barb. This morning I experienced some balance issues, expected and not uncommon, which have faded during the day. So, other than taking it easy for a few days, I await activation on February 3. Wish me luck!