Hi, thought I tell you now that I have received a letter this morning to confirm that my switch on date will be Wednesday 14th November and again on Friday 16th November plus another programming/mapping on Wednesday 21st November! WOW!
I can't wait for it now!
So far I'm feeling fine and haven't really been tired out lately, have kept myself busy but not overdoing things. It's been a good week with the boys as it's their half term and they have been good as gold and of course my husband - he's been great and is pleased with what's been going on in the last week.
Will be back soon.
Friday, 26 October 2007
Sunday, 21 October 2007
The next 24 hours
What a night! I slept on and off trying to find comfort but mainly slept on my right side through the night. Nurses woke me up at 6.45am to see if I was alright and asked me for any painkillers. More blood pressure tests were taken and it was back to normal! Had my breakfast and was a lot perkier.
Mr Strachan came to see me and took the bandage off and said the wound was good and clean. He was pleased with it and said that I would have to go for my x-ray in the next couple of hours and then go home all being well.
Salim, my audiologist from YCIS came and gave me a card to prove that I have the implant in my left ear. He was happy with the operation too as he told me that he attended the theatre and made sure that the implant was working. He then said "SEE YOU IN 4 WEEKS TIME"....
My hair was in a mess, it felt that I had wallpaper paste stuck at the back of my head and it took a while to brush the "iodine" out! Howard came at 12 noon and I was still waiting to go in for the x-ray.
At 12.45pm, as soon as my dinner was coming into my room, the porter came in with the wheelchair for me to go to the x-ray! And I was still hooked up with more antibiotics! Anyway I had to skip the lunch and was wheeled down to the x-ray department. Had x-rays and then was taken back to the ward and had sandwiches(!)
Went back on the antibiotics drip for another half an hour and then the sister said "the x-rays was fine and you can go home"... so we left Bradford Royal Infirmary at 3.30pm and got home an hour later due to traffic in Bradford!
Photo shows the scar 24 hours later.
That night, I slept on and off but really slept properly.
Mr Strachan came to see me and took the bandage off and said the wound was good and clean. He was pleased with it and said that I would have to go for my x-ray in the next couple of hours and then go home all being well.
Salim, my audiologist from YCIS came and gave me a card to prove that I have the implant in my left ear. He was happy with the operation too as he told me that he attended the theatre and made sure that the implant was working. He then said "SEE YOU IN 4 WEEKS TIME"....
My hair was in a mess, it felt that I had wallpaper paste stuck at the back of my head and it took a while to brush the "iodine" out! Howard came at 12 noon and I was still waiting to go in for the x-ray.
At 12.45pm, as soon as my dinner was coming into my room, the porter came in with the wheelchair for me to go to the x-ray! And I was still hooked up with more antibiotics! Anyway I had to skip the lunch and was wheeled down to the x-ray department. Had x-rays and then was taken back to the ward and had sandwiches(!)
Went back on the antibiotics drip for another half an hour and then the sister said "the x-rays was fine and you can go home"... so we left Bradford Royal Infirmary at 3.30pm and got home an hour later due to traffic in Bradford!
Photo shows the scar 24 hours later.
That night, I slept on and off but really slept properly.
The Big Day!
I was admitted to Ward 18 at Bradford Royal Infirmary on Wednesday 17th October at 7pm and all was well. Didn't really sleep properly that night - should have taken some eye masks! Anyway, nurses woke me up at 6am for blood pressure and take any medication. Mr Strachan (my consultant) came to see me at 8am for a quick chat with the SHO and explained the routine. The anaesthetist came and explained a few words and then I was told to go down to the theatre. So off I went at 8.45am (walked to the theatre with one of the nurses) and was hooked up with wires as I lay down and I dozed off!
Possibly around 12.15pm I woke up in the recovery room and could lipread the nurses saying "Are you in pain?" Well, for a start off course I was! Was topped up with painkillers but that made it worse as I was nausea!
Come round 2.15pm.... I just flickered my eyes opened and thought what time is it? Oh I'm still in the recovery room and asked the nurse - how long had I been here? Her reply was 3 HOURS! I asked what wa
s the problem.............. the blood pressure was sky high!
Mr Strachan came to see me in the recovery room and said the implant operation was a success and would see me in the morning.
Anyway, after a lot of doses of drugs to keep the blood pressure down, I was finally transferred to the ward around 3.15pm and found my husband, Howard waiting! He just laughed at my new hairstyle!
I was sleeping on and off so Howard left at 4.30pm to sort the boys out!
I was still feeling nausea that evening and tried to eat some toast but it didn't work! So I just slept and the nurses kept checking me up. As I was trying to doze off and was hooked up with antibiotics at 1am!!
Possibly around 12.15pm I woke up in the recovery room and could lipread the nurses saying "Are you in pain?" Well, for a start off course I was! Was topped up with painkillers but that made it worse as I was nausea!
Come round 2.15pm.... I just flickered my eyes opened and thought what time is it? Oh I'm still in the recovery room and asked the nurse - how long had I been here? Her reply was 3 HOURS! I asked what wa
s the problem.............. the blood pressure was sky high!Mr Strachan came to see me in the recovery room and said the implant operation was a success and would see me in the morning.
Anyway, after a lot of doses of drugs to keep the blood pressure down, I was finally transferred to the ward around 3.15pm and found my husband, Howard waiting! He just laughed at my new hairstyle!
I was sleeping on and off so Howard left at 4.30pm to sort the boys out!
I was still feeling nausea that evening and tried to eat some toast but it didn't work! So I just slept and the nurses kept checking me up. As I was trying to doze off and was hooked up with antibiotics at 1am!!
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Waiting Day
Well here I am waiting nervously for a message from my husband to see if there is a bed for me tonight! Howie rang at 8.10am but they advised him to ring back at lunchtime as they can't tell you the answer just yet!
So far I have been given lots of "good lucks" and "best wishes" from Guides, mums at infants school and close friends through the internet from various groups.
I am feeling calm but with butterflies at the moment, I was ever so calm all week as I had been busy organising for my son's birthday party, going to Big Gig in Manchester with my Guides (saw McFlys, Kate Nash, Calvin Harris, The Hoosiers, Robyn, Natasha Bedingfield, Amerie and Sophie Ellis-Baxter).
I'll be back later on this afternoon to see what's the score whether I'm off at 5pm or at 6.30am tomorrow morning!!
Cheers for now.
Rachel
So far I have been given lots of "good lucks" and "best wishes" from Guides, mums at infants school and close friends through the internet from various groups.
I am feeling calm but with butterflies at the moment, I was ever so calm all week as I had been busy organising for my son's birthday party, going to Big Gig in Manchester with my Guides (saw McFlys, Kate Nash, Calvin Harris, The Hoosiers, Robyn, Natasha Bedingfield, Amerie and Sophie Ellis-Baxter).
I'll be back later on this afternoon to see what's the score whether I'm off at 5pm or at 6.30am tomorrow morning!!
Cheers for now.
Rachel
Sunday, 14 October 2007
Conor's Poem
This poem below was created by my son with a little help from his class teacher at Clinton Park School, Coningsby in 2003.
If I was unable to hear,
Chiming clocks,
Gas that hisses,
Wind whistling through the trees,
I would miss them.
If I was unable to hear,
A telephone ringing,
A quiet rumble of thunder,
Music playing,
I would miss them.
If I was unable to hear,
People behind me,
A fire engine,
Noises in the night,
I would be afraid.
If I was unable to hear,
Wind on my face,
Music through my fingers,
A baby monitor vibrate,
I would feel them.
If I was unable to hear,
People might laugh at me,
People might not understand me,
People might be unkind to me,
I would feel sad.
I can hear so I have learnt to sign,
I have learnt to look at people when I talk to them.
I have learnt to be understanding,
Today I am a better person.
Written by Conor Fishwick (age 7) 2003©
If I was unable to hear,
Chiming clocks,
Gas that hisses,
Wind whistling through the trees,
I would miss them.
If I was unable to hear,
A telephone ringing,
A quiet rumble of thunder,
Music playing,
I would miss them.
If I was unable to hear,
People behind me,
A fire engine,
Noises in the night,
I would be afraid.
If I was unable to hear,
Wind on my face,
Music through my fingers,
A baby monitor vibrate,
I would feel them.
If I was unable to hear,
People might laugh at me,
People might not understand me,
People might be unkind to me,
I would feel sad.
I can hear so I have learnt to sign,
I have learnt to look at people when I talk to them.
I have learnt to be understanding,
Today I am a better person.
Written by Conor Fishwick (age 7) 2003©
Monday, 8 October 2007
A Visit To See Sue
Saturday 6th October
My family (husband, two boys) went to meet Sue whom had a Cochlear Implant two years ago. It was my husband's idea to meet her and see what really had happened when she had the implant in and afterwards. And it was also a chance for the boys to see where the implant, speech processor was and the colours of the speech processor.
The boys were really amazed to see the size of it and where it was and laughed at the different colours as I know their favourite colour is red for Manchester Utd!! No way would I wear red but Sue said she wears it when she has different tops on! Now that's an idea there!
Howie asked her a couple of questions and Sue really gave us a lot of feedback and was very helpful. That really gave us confidence and know what to expect afterwards.
We also asked a few questions to Sue's children and they really helped us by answering the questions then they soon forgotten about us and started to play games with our boys and got on really well.
It was a good night to see her, especially..... that Sue was in my class at Odsal House School for the Deaf from 1970 onwards and I had left Odsal House in 1977 to Heaton Middle! Odsal House closed in 1977 and got transferred to a new school called Thorn Park at that time, I occasionally saw her when I was at Heaton Middle and Belle Vue. After 1984 I never saw Sue much and forgotten till we were in Belgium when I spotted an article in the Daily Express all about her Cochlear Implant!
And she appeared on the local news as well and I contacted the TV company and we got in touch again in 2005 till my computer crashed and lost most of the email addresses! Once I heard that I was being referred to have the CI, I "googled" her name as I knew there would be some articles about her and finally got in touch with her again and have promised not to loose email addresses again! I did see Sue in July when we both went to Thorn Park School Reunion as it recently celebrated 30 years... was it really 30 years since I left Odsal House?
Now I've had the pneumococcal immunisation and I was feeling under the weather for 48 hours and am ready for next week's operation.
I will be admitting at Bradford Royal on 17th October in the evening in preparation for the operation to take place the following morning.
Thank you for reading this and will be back soon.
Monday, 1 October 2007
Cochlear Implant Patients
Hi
I went to meet other Cochlear Implant patients last Friday (28th Sep) and it was truly amazing to meet them and hear all about their CI experience.
Wow, everyone is not the same but different, how they felt when they were switched on but most of them said "it was the best thing that CI has done for them".
Not everyone was scary but they were looking forward to get back to their normal social life and hear the things that they have not heard before!
It was a mixture of young and old at the support group and there were two of us who haven't had the CI yet and one was a bit serious as she was not sure what to do but after hearing from other CI users she felt better and more confident so we'll hear soon whether she's decided to have it or not!
Please also support the Ear Trust as we need a lot of money for a brand new centre and hopefully this means more people can have the Cochlear Implant young or old.
I went to meet other Cochlear Implant patients last Friday (28th Sep) and it was truly amazing to meet them and hear all about their CI experience.
Wow, everyone is not the same but different, how they felt when they were switched on but most of them said "it was the best thing that CI has done for them".
Not everyone was scary but they were looking forward to get back to their normal social life and hear the things that they have not heard before!
It was a mixture of young and old at the support group and there were two of us who haven't had the CI yet and one was a bit serious as she was not sure what to do but after hearing from other CI users she felt better and more confident so we'll hear soon whether she's decided to have it or not!
Please also support the Ear Trust as we need a lot of money for a brand new centre and hopefully this means more people can have the Cochlear Implant young or old.
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