ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => Hearing Issues => Topic started by: jaylogs on March 21, 2011, 02:49:39 pm
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So I had my BAHA surgery 3 weeks ago last Friday...what's happening is that the site is not healing, it keeps leaking. The doc has left the plastic cover thing on over the abutment up until now, and today he took out the screw. He said that will help it heal. But then he left me with he's gonna call me later on today and let me know what's next...Now I am worried. He said it's having problems healing partially due to the fact that my AN surgery has left that area compromised. I don't know what this will mean for me down the road, so as of now I am anxiously waiting for him to call. When I left his office, I don't think I've ever felt more despondent...I've always faced everything that was thrown at me, this AN, the recovery, the idea of getting a BAHA (which was not easy for me). I think I am now just finally crumbling a bit after all this and I just wish it would go away. I'll be fine emotionally, I usually the glass half full kind of guy (if you don't believe me, read all my posts to newbies! :) ) Anyways....when I find out I'll let everyone know!
Jay
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Jay ~
I'm so sorry to learn of your problems with the BAHA abutment not healing properly. As with any surgery, even minor surgery such as this, we know complications can and do arise, but of course, we always assume (or just hope) that it doesn't happen to us. Yet, sometime, it does. For you, this seems to be one of those times - and I'm really sorry to see that happen because, as you stated, you are a positive guy and have a good attitude that is almost infectious. However, I doubt this is going to be a serious, long-term problem, although it may impact your BAHA acquisition.
I'm confident that you and your doctor will find a solution to this issue and that you'll come out of it O.K. We'll be looking forward to leaning what happens next in 'Jay's BAHA adventure'. :)
Jim
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Hi Jay!
So sorry to hear your BAHA experience has hit a snag. Here's to hoping that it's a temporary set back and with time you'll be telling us all about your new BAHA hearing, making those of us who haven't yet been so brave very jealous. Where did you have your BAHA surgery done?
Tam
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Jay .....
I am very interested in following your journey with the BAHA, from a very personal standpoint. I am so sorry you are having difficulty healing from the abutment implant. Is it possible the cap being on so long contributed to it not healing? ..... sort of like keeping a bandage on a wound too long? Might you have had an allergic reaction to something used on it? Sure hope you have some answers. Keep in mind this is most likely only a small wrinkle along the way ..... painful though it may be.
Since I am most likely going to follow suit shortly, I guess I just want to avoid these issues, if there is any way. Sure curious what "AN surgery has left that area compromised" might mean.
Did you go back to HEI for the abutment or have a local doctor do it? How did you go about finding an Oticon rep in your area? (Can you guess I am still researching, researching??? :o)
Many prayers that you will heal quickly and on to the good stuff like being able to have some sound input!!
Clarice
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Hi Jay,
Sorry to hear about your complications following your Baha surgery. Hopefully it is just a temporary setback. Please keep us informed.
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Everyone, thanks for the encouraging words...this is why this place is so great!! I didn't hear from the doc today so maybe tomorrow? Thanks again everyone!
Jay
PS: Tammy, long time no see!! :) Glad to see you again!
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Jay,
Sorry to hear you are not healing like you should. I hope it's only a minor setback and your body needs more time to heal. Please do keep us informed. ;)
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Jay, Sorry to hear of your set back. Just like our healing post surgery, be patient and confident in your physician. Did you go back to House for the abutement placement? You are in our prayers Jay. It will all work out. Nancy
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Darn it! I should have put more chocolate in the recovery kit! >:(
I'm hoping for good news for you from the doctor today. Keep us posted!
Lori
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Sorry to hear that Jay..... I am following you on April 8th...... Scary!!!! Who would have thought after all you have been through that this would stumble!
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Sorry to hear about the setback Jay. My BAHA surgery is next Tuesday, and although I'm nervous, I'm still looking forward to it. I sincerely hope everything works out for you...and soon!
Take care!
Debbie
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Sorry about this, Jay! Sure hope something can be figured out for you...I'm sure they will!
Hang in there (know you will!),
Cindy
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Thanks everyone for the well wishes...well, the doc is gonna get me into a Wound Center so we can nip this in the bud before it gets out of control. As soon as insurance approves I'm in...expecting at the latest by Friday. So that's where that is at now...I'll keep ya all posted as I get more info myself! Thanks again guys, you are great!
Jay
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My BAHA site took a year to heal. They finally found a suture that didn't dissolve, and worked it's way to the surface. Also I was sensitive to the neosporin they kept insisting I put on it.
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Damn, Jay.
I'm gone from the Forum for a few days and you have complications ???
Sorry to hear about this setback, but I'm sure you'll get past it - and if I know you, with a smile on your face.
Hang in there!
A year, Sam :o
Wow! Don't know if I'd have had the patience to deal with that.
Jan
PS to Lori - NEVER, EVER skimp on the chocolate ;)
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PS to Lori - NEVER, EVER skimp on the chocolate ;)
Amen to that Jan! :) And yeah, don't leave me like that again! LOL
By the way, I am going in first thing in the morning to get this taken care of, no idea on what they will do but at least it's getting done, and quick! Whew! Thanks again for all the well wishes!
Jay
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Jay,
Sorry to hear about the temporary setback! I had my BAHA surgery on 10/7/10. My site was healing weird and I was actually set for revision surgery to 're-thin' the tissue 2 months later. Somehow my site self corrected and I got to cancel the surgery! It all worked out! These incisions do take a long time to heal...at least for me they do! I still get my handheld mirror out every other day to inspect my sites to make sure all is well ;D Yep, paranoia at its best!
So I am telling you this because I understand how frustrated you are! I was feeling pretty down about having to have another surgery and wondering why it couldn't have just been seemless! But hang in there and try to stay positive!
Kris
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Wow Jay, sorry to read this. I hope you found something out & it is on the 'mend'!
Denise (MI)
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So, I went to the Wound Center today, and they were really nice there. The doctor basically ripped the big old yucky scab off so it can start healing again. However, there's a pretty big void there, so gonna do a little procedure to move my skin around a bit to cover it up. Decided to do this as opposed to just going in weekly and having it treated and looked at, which could take months. This should heal in a matter of weeks if all goes well. So for now I got to keep it covered with this anti-bacterial ointment (prescription) on it. I hopefully will get this all done as soon as next week. Thanks again for all the well wishes, it truly helps! :)
Jay
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Hi Jay,javascript:void(0);
Just now reading this thread. Bummer >:(
Keep the glass half full, and once this heals up, hopefully they can "re screw" the abutment.
I'm wondering if they will have to change the position of the titanium screw in the skull if you decide to proceed with another attempt.
The BAHA IS a great thing to have. Your head just needs a rest. :P
I got my abutment unscrewed with the original brain surgery, because it kept getting crusty with drainage. Now my second time around, the BAHA is fine, and the abutment did go into the same location.
Keep the faith :)
Maureen
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I got my abutment unscrewed with the original brain surgery, because it kept getting crusty with drainage. Now my second time around, the BAHA is fine, and the abutment did go into the same location.
Keep the faith :)
Maureen
Ahhh, that's good to know Maureen, I was kinda wondering about that! :) Thanks for that!
Jay
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Jay,
I'm just getting around to this thread, there's soooo much to read on here. I am so sorry to hear of your bad luck, but am glad that you have finally found a solution. Keep being positive as you always are. I'll be thinking of you and praying also. Hang in there.
Sandy
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Well....this is fun...lol. Yet another surgical procedure. So they sliced across the back of my scalp towards the neck and moved the skin around, now it covers the abutment and everything completely. I guess when it's all healed they can slice it open a bit and but the screw back in. I was wondering if someone was trying to tell me something when it took them FIVE times to get an IV started for me...I had tough veins...They're like "Did you stay hydrated yesterday?" and I said yes, except for the last eight hours...and boy oh boy did I Feel it. So anyways, that's where I am at, just waiting on this thing to stop seeping (16 staples holding it together, I look like Frankenstein!) :) I took today off and I'll probably go back to work tomorrow. Thanks again everyone for their best wishes. I'll keep you posted (of course!)
Jay
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Gee whiz, Jay. Just how difficult are you trying to make things? :) I do hope things get easier for you, I'm sure this is not fun.
-Tod
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Jay,
Sorry you had to go through this. Wishing you an easy and speedy recovery :)
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Jay,
Woah, what a ride you have been on. I will refrain from saying the BAHA is a simple procedure, because just like everything else there is the possibility of complications :o
Hang in there. That's a lot of staples! I hope they are the mini ones, and not the biggems. So sorry to hear about it, but keep on truckn and have your wife (?) just look at it everyday for changes.
Maureen
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Jay ~
Sorry to learn about the hassles of the surgery to repair your BAHA rod implant issues. I don't choose to use a BAHA but the majority of users report that the anchor implant is a relatively simple procedure. However, there are always exceptions and unforeseen complications can sometimes arise. I'm just sorry that it has happened to you. I hope this will be resolved quickly and you can proceed with your original plan for a BAHA installation, which I'm sure will be beneficial for you.
Jim
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Whoa, Jay!
Sorry to read this story. Hope the rest of your healing is uneventful.
Should Lori or I send more chocolate?
Seriously,
Jan
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Oops...sorry - I just finished all the chocolate. :-[ Guess I should have signed on sooner!
Sorry about this new bump in the BAHA road for you, Jay. Perhaps you can accessorize with a lovely scarf to cover up your new battle wounds? ;D
Take your vitamins and increase your protein intake - helps with the healing process.
Lori
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Jay -
how's the healing going? Update, please!
Jan
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Hi Jan!! Yes, I guess it's been a while since an update, hasn't it? Thanks for asking, and reminding me to do this! Anyways, so to recap my story here, I had BAHA surgery on Feb 25th, the site wouldn't heal, in fact it kind of split into a big 50 cent sized gaping wound. So they took out the abutment (left the post in of course) and it just wasn't healing. So I went to a Wound center, the doctor there has his own plastic surgery clinic, so he made some rather long cuts here and there on my scalp and covered the surgery site and got it all on the road to healing. So as I sit today, the side where I had my BAHA implant is all totally numb, has some strange lumps here and there. I'm going to have a lot of nice scars on my head for life, even worse than my AN scar. Another side effect to all this is while I originally had lost a good portion of my hearing, in the last couple of weeks my tinnitus has gone really loud and now I have a fullness in that ear and I am hearing even less than before. I am talking a dramatic loss. So I don't know what's going on. I haven't gone back to my ENT doc yet to find out what we're gonna do about getting the abutment put back in, but my original gotcha date was at the end of May and I am going to hold off until end of June, as me and my wife are going to Hawaii June 20th for a week. I don't want to deal with head wounds during that trip, for sure! So there you have it. For a while there I was feeling really run down, but in the last week my energy level has gone up dramatically, so that's good. Thanks again for all the support and thank you Jan for checking on me! I hope you are doing well!
Jay
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Damn, Jay. The best part of this update seems to be your upcoming trip to Hawaii.
I was hopeful that everything would be going great in the BAHA department by now. Sorry to hear you're still having issues.
Keeping my fingers crossed that things get better.
Should I have Lori send more chocolate?
Jan
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Ha! Ya know, you never can have enough chocolate, right? Well, I've been pretty well supplied with that lately so you and Lori can eat in it my memory! :) But as the old saying goes, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...so by the time I get all done with this I should be close to Superman status, right? :)
Jay
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Jay -
it's great to see that you are keeping your positive attitude. Good for you!
As for the chocolate, I've been indulging in it a little too much lately :( and ignoring my own attempts to get back to running. I've been out a few times in the past 2 weeks, but I just can't get myself to stick to a regular routine. But now that the chocolate Easter bunny is history, I'll hopefully find the kick in the butt I need.
Hang in there, Superman.
Jan
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Hey there
I dropped in to check and see if anyone from my circle of ANers is still posting and then I read you new nightmare. Bummer man, I thought you came out so good and now things seem to have turned for the worse.
Here's wishing you the best. Keep your head up.
Mike
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Jay,
Thank you for all your kind and encouraging words to this newbie! You are Superman! So glad you get to go to Hawaii! You need the R&R! Hoping that you are healing nicely! Hoping to go to our local ANA meeting on May 21st...the subject is BAHA. Curious about it all...
Hope you have a fantastic day, Sir!
Amanda
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Jay, Sorry about your setbacks with the BAHA. You are a very positive individual and I know that you will too rise above this crisis. Enjoy your time in Hawaii and when you return you can venture down this BAHA road again. Take care. Learn the HULA. ALOHA . Tweety (Nancy)
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Wow Mike!! It's been a long time!! How's things with you? Yeah, this was a strange hiccup because we always thing the AN surgery being THE big deal (and rightly so!) but these so called "simple" procedures can get away from you. And nancy and amanda, thanks for all the positive words, they always are very welcome! I am doing pretty good now, the scars are still tender but healing well. I'm still kinda wondering how getting the abutment put back in and how well that will heal. But no use in worrying about something you can't control. Anyways, thanks again y'all for the encouragement!! :) I'll keep you updated as July 5th gets here! :)
Jay
PS
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Any good educated guess about what caused the healing problems? Have you ever had similar issues?
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From what the ENT doc who did the procedure told me, this happens from time to time. There's little fat under the skin on the scalp and they hollow it out even more so for a BAHA, so if the scalp moves around a lot and the skin doesn't heal right, it just keeps splitting open, which is basically what happened with mine. No, I didn't have any issues like this, even with my AN surgery. That healed nicely. So go figure why it did it this time, other than all the things I listed... ???
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How are you Jay? I keep thinking about you and all you've been through and hoping for good news.
July 5th is not so far away now. I'll be checking back to find out how you are.
T
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Tammy, my surgery pal!! Long time no see!! I'm doing ok so far....the left side of my scalp has been dead since my plastic surgery to get things closed up, but in the last couple of weeks it's definitely awakening. And I am glad it was dead because it hurts! I really hope they can put the abutment back in at their office, as opposed to going into surgery again. So we'll see how it goes. How are you doing? Take care and I'll update when I can!!
Jay
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Glad to hear you are healing. They probably won't want to do the procedure in the office because they bill it as a hospital outpatient procedure to get more money. The codes for office procedures are different and will pay less to the dr. Unfortunately, it's all about the money:(
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Might not be the money.
My doc wouldn't even remove the screw from my BAHA site in his office - a very simple procedure that required only local anesthesia and a small screw driver. Took about 5 minutes once I was prepped. His reasoning was that it wasn't a sterile environment.
As I recall, he didn't get paid much.
Jan
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So, I went and saw the ENT...we are gonna do another procedure in the surgery center to put the abutment back in. He said it won't be as involved as the first time, so we got it set up for July 22. Woohoo...I say this sarcastically because I just really don't wanna go through all this again. But I keep telling myself that this will all be worth it in the end. So, the waiting begins...again. Oh,as an aside, I went through the boxes that they have given me and discovered that that I have TWO processors, did everyone get two? Anyways, so that's it...take care all!
Jay
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Hi Jay .....
Guess you just won the lottery. :o ::)
Dr. Friedman put in my Ponto abutment during my AN removal surgery on May 11th at HEI. Since I live clear across the country from CA, they gave me the Ponto Pro processor in its box with explicit instructions not to open it until the audiologist who will be programming it opens it. They said it would invalidate the warranty, which starts in August. Soooooooo, I have resisted all kinds of temptations to open the box and look at it. On the outside of the box, it says "Ponto Pro, left, chroma beige" so I am assuming there is only one processor inside. Oh my goodness, I hope there is one inside! :)
I'll let you know in a month when it can be attached. Countin' the days here!!!
Clarice
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Wow Jay, 2 processors! That's great, I guess you won't need insurance:)
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Most unusual....I think they made a mistake....to your advantage!!! :o
~Dale
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With all you've been through on your BAHA road, you should have gotten 3 or 4 processors, Jay!
Good luck with the extra surgery.
Should Lori and I send more chocolate?? ;D
Jan
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Jan, you guys have done way more than necessary so I will just buy some of that chocolate here and eat it in your honor! :)
Jay
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Jay~
Fingers and toes crossed!! No really, I don't believe in luck but I hope and pray that it all goes well this time!!
K ;D
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Jay,
I went to John Hopkins today to have my Baha reprogrammed. You can read about my experience on another thread. What was interesting was the sudiologist there told me they used to give people two Baha's because there were so many problems with them (cracks in case) and they didn't want their patients to be without one. They just stopped doing it a couple of months ago because Baha has finally solved the problem. I thought of you when she told me this:)
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Ahhh...that's good info to know! Thanks! On another note, today I had the abutment put back in. The surgery went swimmingly, althoughI have the lovely cup strapped to my head for 24 hours...then I go see the ENT on the 2nd. I sure hope this goes well this time!! Thanks for everyone's support! Take care y'all and have a great weekend!
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I hope you have an easy recovery this time around.
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This one HAS to go well. Keep us posted :D
~Dale
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Hoping this one's the last one! ;D
Jan