Dizzy is as dizzy does

Still dizzy! Me no like this AT ALL. Admittedly it's less than it was when it was really bad, and I can move my head, and I can walk (albeit carefully) but... this is not so nice and I do hope it goes soon.

I thought I was fine on Monday there when we set off for the UMC to get the stitch removed but we were half way there when it all kicked in again. I was really glad J came with me after all as, although I'd probably have managed, it's quite disconcerting.

So, stitch out. Scar a bit lumpy looking but ach, it's behind the ear so hardly obtrusive. Internal ear looking 'restful' I'm told. Bruising now minimal and bruised feeling over my head has also receded back to around the ear and site of the implant and down neck to shoulder. Nothing major. Ear and back of the ear are still rather numb - obvious nerve damage there but the doc said that will probably ('but no guarantee'!) buck up before too long so I'm staying confident. The numbness is perhaps also why not so painful and the stabs I get now and then are perhaps the nerves improving - all conjecture on my part really, just saying how it feels. So, plusses and minuses there. Still no sound to be heard through my hearing aid but I only tried it the once - might work OK in time. 'Time' being next Wednesday already for SOday (Switch On Day).

Had a lovely afternoon visit from P and S yesterday. All very civilised with tea and biscuits and me being pampered and not allowed to move about much. Thanks girls.

Now, I get the feeling, from various comments made to me by various folks that (of course) not everyone really knows what a CI actually is, or does. For instance I've had at least two people ask me if I can hear better now. I forget that while I, as a hard of hearing person, have been following the progress of this wonderful piece of technology for years already, others on the planet haven't. So I will attempt here to explain what it is and what it does. If I don't know the real names for things or procedures I'm sure I will be forgiven, and I'm not attempting to educate anyone, just clarify a couple of things... hopefully.

To start with... having a cochlear implant (CI) does not mean the wearer can then immediately hear (either better, or indeed at all). They are still deaf (or hard of hearing) and, due to the very nature of the operation may (only may) lose any remaining hearing they had in the ear operated on and you are rather advised to expect to lose it - less disappointment I suppose. A CI is a help to hearing, much as a hearing aid is. While the internal part (the implant) is permanent, if the external part (the processor) is not worn, then the CI wearer is just as deaf or HoH as they were before getting it. The external part is taken off for, for instance sleeping, swimming and to bathe, same as a hearing aid (although there are models that are waterproof now).

There are two main parts to a CI, internal and external. The internal part is why you get an operation (duh, just being clear here). An incision is made along the back of the ear and (no idea how of course) a space drilled out just above and to the rear, in the bone of your skull (!!) where the implant is laid in. Makes hardly even a bump with the skin laid over :)

A wire (the magic wire!) runs from there to the tiny hole they then drill in your internal ear somewhere. They thread this fabulous affair through the hole which then follows its own route through your cochlea... the tiny snail's shell shaped affair in your middle ear. Hopefully, it doesn't damage any hearing you may have left but this can't be guaranteed. If you are already deaf of course this doesn't matter. If you still have a little and can use a hearing aid (like me) it also doesn't matter a whole lot as the implant intends to improve everything. It just means you then no longer have a use for your hearing aid on that ear (and it can then be reprogrammed to work well as an extra for your other ear). It's also the reason that your hearing needs to be really pretty much useless without aids before you are even considered for a CI.

There is a short cable CI and a long cable CI. It's all relative as we're talking millimeters anyway. I think the lengths are 26mm and 32mm... mine is the short one as I (did) still have a measure of hearing and the shorter it is, the less likelihood of damage (although that still, understandably, cannot be guaranteed). Well that makes sense eh? (A test shortly after my op showed I have retained my minimal hearing in that ear but that could change yet and as of yesterday, I still can't hear with the aid on that ear.)

The external part is the processor. This comes in various models but essentially is where all the programmable bits and bobs are that are connected via wires to the audiologist's computer for adjustment. The processor itself is attached via wiring to a magnet that attaches itself through your skin to the metal of the recessed implant on your head. How cool is that?... Clunk Click, every trip! So, from computer to processor to implant, to ear, to brain. Basically :)

Of course you're not wired to the hospital computer except on SOday and for the weekly then fortnightly appointments for adjustments required until things settle in. I'm told not to expect too much... nothing more than irritating, metalic screeches and beeps... at first. 'They' need to get levels right with my help. I need to indicate like 'too loud' and 'not loud enough' etc. and even then I think they send you away to get used to what is coming through, for now. Your brain needs to adjust. I need to work with J to distinguish just what it is I hear. So if for instance I suddenly think I'm hearing squeaky noises, he has to help me find what the squeaks are, and I need to give that a place in my head, whatever it is. The idea is that before long, I will hear that squeak and know it's a bird singing and soon it will just be birdsong. Sorta, kinda... well I don't really know yet do I? :)

For me, it will be extra hearing. I'm very HoH, not yet fully deaf. This will mean (I think? time will tell) that I won't suddenly hear sounds I've not heard in years but will improve greatly those that I still can. Especially speech... hopefully speech! And yes, probably birdsong and clock ticks, which I indeed haven't heard in a long time. I'm dying to get started with it all.

I'm to get the MED-EL RONDO model. This particular model (see link) has no behind-the-ear, large hearing aid type of processor with a wire to the magnet. Everything is incorporated in the button shaped type of thing on the magnet! Bloody fabulous. There's an optional safety wire - I think I'll definitely use that, knowing myself to be sure to lose it otherwise. And it comes with a remote control, so no need to fiddle with the buttons if I don't want to. I've asked for a blue one and have read that I can also get stickers (generic or personal photos) to fit it... fan bloody tastic. I am in half a mind to get my head shaved at either side, just to make a statement for the first wee while, but yeah... maybe, maybe not.

I hope I've explained things adequately. Here's a handy link to more (better) information all about CIs. And of course wikipedia has good info too, including telling how many in the world have a CI... although that was in 2010, probably safe to assume I'm one in a quarter million. I'm the quarter million CI woman!

I'm now off to get my Meningitis inoculation from my GP.

Addendum: OK well that was a bit of a farce. Just back from the surgery. Yes, I should have had the injection before the op. but I didn't. I perhaps also should have given the doc the exact name of the meds required, as mentioned on the wee folder given weeks back, but I didn't. And OK, I probably should have made sure the appointment was at for at least within the two weeks after the op, but I didn't. Mea culpa etc. No defense, not worth the breath or typing time.

So, long story, bit of a rammy, bollix and shite later, I have to go tomorrow (yes, yet another 24 hours further) to get the right stuff from the chemist and get the jab from a different doc, not my own GP which (OK yes... in my defense!) is one reason I couldn't get sooner (that I couldn't get him before today). Getting sick from the jab will really just be my feckin' luck - all hassle I could be doing without. I could say loads more about the whole protocol for the jab sucking the big one but will leave it for when I am more in control of my tongue, which just might run away with me in the form of my typing fingers.