Post-Op

Jack had his CI surgery on Monday; it was successful with zero problems! What a relief. We checked into the hospital at 5:30 a.m. and he went into anesthesia around 7 a.m. They began actually operating at 8, and were done by 9:45, which was a little faster than we were expecting. We got to go back to the recovery room to see our little man, thinking he would be awake, but he was fast asleep, knocked out by all the medicine. The nurse asked if we wanted to hold him or keep him in bed, and I said "hold him!" Little did I know I'd be holding him for the next hour and a half, arm cramping, while he snored loudly. This kid showed NO signs of waking up anytime soon. So we opted to let him lay in bed so we could sneak off to eat some lunch. Jon and I ate cheeseburgers, relaxing some, afterwards returning to our boy who was still asleep. We wanted to return home the same day so we could rest at home instead of a hospital, so the nurses said it was time to wake him up and get him to eat a popsicle. He was so adorable and groggy, with this head band wrapped around his head. He looked like a ninja or the Karate Kid. He gladly sucked on the popsicle and kept it down. So we were released and left the hospital around 2 p.m. We had definitely been there long enough!

Jack slept about 4 hours on the couch when we got home, for which I was very grateful. I slept on the floor next to him and enjoyed a lazy afternoon. He never cried once, but did have a glazed-over, mean look in his eye attesting to his discomfort. He needed to keep the headband on, which held the gauze in place over his ear, for the next 24 hours, so we decided to have him sleep in our bed. I knew that thing would never survive a night alone with Jack. He had already tried to rip it off once. What a restless night! We have a king-size bed, but you wouldn't believe it sleeping with Jack. He started off next to Jon and ended up next to me, with me having a total of 10 inches of space before I fell to the floor. And he was so restless, moving and shifting and sighing for hours. I eventually moved to the couch, leaving Jon to fend for himself. Jack slept peacefully in the early morning hours, at which point I was so grateful it was just about time to get up and take off that headband!

So we took off the headband, and the incision looked pretty good. Truthfully I was expecting much more swelling and redness, but he looked like normal Jack, just with an incision by his ear. Tuesday he was still tired, and laid in our bed all morning (which I kind of enjoyed!) and he napped in our bed too. By the afternoon he was more energetic and played with toys, but took rest breaks to cuddle Mommy (enjoyed that too). And by Wednesday he was his normal Jack self; you would never guess he had surgery 2 days prior. I took a picture of "ninja" Jack on my cell phone, but not our camera, so I'll have to figure out how to get it on the computer.

In a little less than 3 weeks, Jack will see his audiologist and get "turned on," meaning he'll get his processor and have it adjusted. It will be another few weeks before they turn him on fully- where he hears everything; this is so all the sound won't overwhelm him. We are excited to get the equipment and see the difference in Jack. Thanks for all your support and prayers; they mean so much and we're very grateful. In the meantime, check back for Halloween pictures!