Step One of BAHA

It is official - I now have another piece of titanium in my head! Willie and I headed into NYC bright and early Thursday morning - check in time at the hospital was 10:30 so we figured we would leave at 8 AM just to give ourselves plenty of time. As it turned out, we hit every conceivable delay on our way in and arrived right at 10:30, after a 2 and 1/2 hour commute. Needless to say, my stress level (and blood pressure) were peaked out by that point. However, we made our way to Day Surgery and got registered, then off to our little room. Got changed into the ubiquitous hospital gown and grippy socks (yes, a complete fashion statement) only to learn that the surgeon was running late.

The nurse came in at 12:30 to escort me to the OR - yes, patients walk into the surgical suite rather than getting rolled in on a gurney. When I arrived, there were about 7 gowned and masked people there - the nurse introduced me (while I stood there in my gown and socks feeling like a bit of an idiot) and then I hopped up on the table where the residents began hooking me up to things. As is usual, one minute I was awake and the next minute I woke up in recovery.

Turned out that the surgery ran about twice as long as expected (not sure why, but I will find out when I see the surgeon on the 1st). Poor Willie was frantic with worry by the time the surgeon finally came out. As for me, I couldn't see anything when I woke up - turns out that they had put gel in BOTH eyes so all I could see was blurry shapes. Once I realized that I wasn't blind, I felt quite a bit better.

Seems that my heart rate and blood pressure were both pretty elevated, so they ended up keeping me in the Recovery Room until a little after 7. Mostly, it was boring. I gummed around a piece of graham cracker and drank several cups of apple juice. I hadn't thought about the fact that one side of my mouth doesn't really produce any saliva, so when I tried to eat the cracker it just turned into a hard, dry ball in my mouth. It got stuck to the roof of my mouth and then I couldn't swallow the damned thing. Well, at least it kept me focused on something other than my head.

I had a hell of a headache when I woke up - my skull was just throbbing. Fortunately, the nurse was quick to shoot me up with something. Gotta love those drugs.

Had a couple of quiet days - basically no bending, sneezing, cleaning, cooking, etc. Today, however, I am planning to get out for awhile. I need to walk a bit to get my equilibrium back. For whatever reason, my balance took several giant steps backwards after the surgery. I am guessing the anesthesia probably affected my brain's ability to keep me upright. Anyway,I am sure a little walk will help.

I was brave enough to look at the "wound" yesterday. Basically, I can't see a thing because it is all covered with a breathable, waterproof dressing. Somewhere under that is the rod and abutment. I guess I will see them when the dressing comes off on the first. The bald patch is pretty big - guess they had to shave quite a bit of hair to get a clean site. But, most of it will grow back - other than the small patch where they remove the hair follicles. And of course, there are a bunch of numb spots on my head again. Sigh. I was just getting some feeling back and now it seems that I am back where I started. Oh well.

So, I am now done with what I sincerely hope will be the last operation I ever need on my head! Let the countdown for the processor begin ...