Author Topic: BAHA surgery scheduled!  (Read 2848 times)

Sefra22

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BAHA surgery scheduled!
« on: April 06, 2009, 03:18:28 pm »
April 29th! Now I want to know EVERYTHING!

I watched the video that was posted a little while back, but it appeared that the woman in the video was under general anesthesia. I will only have local.

I did not have AN surgery, so I won't be able to compare, but I remember like it was yesterday the GK headframe being screwed in. I was told it wouldn't hurt too much, but the back right side was excruciating. I also tend to have alot of headaches back there, and of course, that is my deaf side!

So, any of you who have had the surgery, I would appreciate anything you are willing to share about your surgery day and recovery.
Thanks,
Lisa
Lisa from Portland, Maine age 46
Diagnosed June 2006
15mm X 17mm AN right side 80% hearing loss
GK March 14,2007 Dr. Noren, Providence RI
1 Year follow-up MRI shows "slight shrinkage".
2 Year follow-up MRI shows "No Change".
3 Year follow-up MRI "stable".
BAHA surgery 4-22-09 BP100 Sept. 2009

wendysig

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2009, 07:02:03 am »
Hi Lisa,

BAHA surgery is really a piece of cake.  I had local anesthesia with sedation, but could have done without the sedation.  Jan (leapyeartwins) had local anestheisia but without sedation and was fine -- but I'll let her tell you her story herself.  I was awake for most of the surgery, just really relaxed -- I did doze off a couple of times.  You just lay there and the doc does the rest.  The surgery takes about two hours from setup to finish.  Since my good ear was against the operating table (you lay on your back with your head turned so that your deaf side is up) I didn't hear much, including the drilling, which seemed pretty quick.    You are taken to recovery where they give you something to drink and some jello.  Shortly thereafter, if you and yoru nurse  feel you are ready, you go home.You'll leave the hospitlal with a headwrap of some kind on that you will take off yourself within 24 to 48 hours.  This bandage is not a pressure bandage, but rather just to absorb any fluids that my leak from the incision for a short time after surgery.   I felt well enough and hungry, since you can't eat prior to surgery, that my husband and I went out for a quick lunch before we went home.  Your doc will prescribe pain killers, probably in advance of the surgery.  I took the Vicodan my doc prescribed for about 1 1/2 days.  Tylenol did the trick after that.  You head will feel pretty numb but since you had GK, you might need to take prescription meds a little longer than I did.  Your head will feel kind numb for about two months (maybe a little longer) and the skin immediately  around the abutment will stay permanently numb.  Just follow your doc's instructions and you'll do fine!  Three months later you get your processor (or get to start using it)! 

Good luck!

Wendy
1.3 cm at time of diagnosis -  April 9, 2008
2 cm at time of surgery
SSD right side translabyrinthine July 25, 2008
Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York, NY
Extremely grateful for the wonderful Dr. Choe & Dr. Chen
BAHA surgery 1/5/09
Doing great!

Sefra22

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2009, 05:35:53 am »
Thanks Wendy,
That's great info. I did not know about the numbness. I am expecting some paperwork and info from the Doc. to arrive in the mail any day now.

How many days should I take off before I return to work?  I took off 5 after GK, but could have gone back after 3 .I do have an appointment with the surgeon the following day. He'll probably remove the dressing.

Thanks so much,
Lisa
Lisa from Portland, Maine age 46
Diagnosed June 2006
15mm X 17mm AN right side 80% hearing loss
GK March 14,2007 Dr. Noren, Providence RI
1 Year follow-up MRI shows "slight shrinkage".
2 Year follow-up MRI shows "No Change".
3 Year follow-up MRI "stable".
BAHA surgery 4-22-09 BP100 Sept. 2009

leapyrtwins

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2009, 05:03:14 pm »
Lisa -

this was my response to someone asking about local vs general anesthesia for BAHA surgery - I copied it from an old thread.

"Everyone is different (the old discussion forum motto, which is true), but I'm confident you can do it with local if you want to.
 
I was a little nervous about doing it that way, but in all honesty it was fine.

The sounds and a brief smell are a little freaky at times, but they drape your entire face and you can't see or feel anything.
Because my head was turned to the side, the drapes made a kind of tunnel that I was looking down.  At the end was a really nice nurse who engaged me in conversation throughout the whole procedure.  Every once in a while the doc would ask me how I was doing, but other than that it was easy to pretty much ignore what was going on with my head.

My doc made a point of keeping the whole thing fairly humorous for me - just the way I like it - which also helped immensely.  I had jokingly asked him while I was in the holding area if he'd ever performed BAHA surgery before and he jokingly told me no, but he had the instructions.  On occasion throughout the surgery he'd stop and tell me that he was referring to the instructions.  Cracked me up.  But then again, I sometimes have a warped sense of humor   

Having local you also have the advantage of not having to "come out" of the anesthesia.  No groggy head, etc., and you can pretty much go about the rest of your day normally.  My sister, who drove me to surgery and back, and I had lunch at a fast food place about an hour post op and then I attended my son's volleyball game.  I felt just fine."

As for returning to work post op, you could actually do it the very same day, but chances are - as Wendy mentioned - you'll be sporting a BAHA hat of sorts and will probably get some very strange looks  ::)  I was able to remove my "hat" 24 hours post op and so I went to work the very next day. 

The BAHA surgery is incredibly easy on the patient - 90% of my neurotologist's BAHA surgeries are done with local (no sedation), as was mine. 

I took no pain killers other than Tylenol for a day or two - didn't even fill the Rx for Vicodin I was given - but everyone is different and my head was still very numb from my AN surgery (9 months prior).  My whole procedure took about 90 minutes from start to finish and a lot of that time was spent prepping and draping the area.  When I was done I could have quite literally walked out of the OR if they would have let me.

There are many posts on the forum about BAHAs - some include pictures of BAHA "hats", sites, and processors.  I posted my pictures about a year ago - as did Bucko - and there have been others since.  If you have some time you should search under "BAHA"; you'll find lots of interesting information - and some very amusing pictures also  ;D

Jan
 
Retrosig 5/31/07 Drs. Battista & Kazan (Hinsdale, Illinois)
Left AN 3.0 cm (1.5 cm @ diagnosis 6 wks prior) SSD. BAHA implant 3/4/08 (Dr. Battista) Divino 6/4/08  BP100 4/2010 BAHA 5 8/2015

I don't actually "make" trouble..just kind of attract it, fine tune it, and apply it in new and exciting ways

Sefra22

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2009, 05:41:23 pm »
Thanks Jan,
I was hoping they wouldn't talk to me so I could use my iPod to help me zone out. (if they let me).
Interesting about the drapes.

I am glad to only have local anesthesia, as I am more scared of that than surgery itself. I insisted on being awake during my removal of impacted wisdom teeth, much to the chagrin of the oral surgeon, but it worked out fine.
Lisa
Lisa from Portland, Maine age 46
Diagnosed June 2006
15mm X 17mm AN right side 80% hearing loss
GK March 14,2007 Dr. Noren, Providence RI
1 Year follow-up MRI shows "slight shrinkage".
2 Year follow-up MRI shows "No Change".
3 Year follow-up MRI "stable".
BAHA surgery 4-22-09 BP100 Sept. 2009

leapyrtwins

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2009, 10:38:39 pm »
I'd ask about the iPod.  They might or might not let you use it - I'm not a medical professional, but I'd imagine there might be sterility issues.  It probably wouldn't be too comfortable for you though, as you'll be laying on your side with your good ear to the table.

You could ask your surgeon about playing a CD in the OR though.  Most hospitals have this capability in their ORs - and lots of docs listen to music while they are doing procedures.

I actually asked my doc if we could listen to Jimmy Buffett during my surgery, and although he's not a Parrothead, he was willing to accomodate me to some extent.  I decided not to push the issue though since he didn't seem too crazy about the idea.  Since he was the guy holding the sharp object to my head - along with a drill - I thought it best to defer to his judgment  ;)

Jan

Retrosig 5/31/07 Drs. Battista & Kazan (Hinsdale, Illinois)
Left AN 3.0 cm (1.5 cm @ diagnosis 6 wks prior) SSD. BAHA implant 3/4/08 (Dr. Battista) Divino 6/4/08  BP100 4/2010 BAHA 5 8/2015

I don't actually "make" trouble..just kind of attract it, fine tune it, and apply it in new and exciting ways

mikjul1

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2009, 05:00:21 pm »
leapyrtwins , I am going to have a general with my surgery so I had to get a pre op exam to make sure that I would be ok for surgery. I think its different for everybody the pain tolerenace thing just my opionon  :) I will let you know when I have my surgery on the 21 st. good luck with yours. I can not wait just to get it over with. So I can recover and get my divino system in 3 months and hear on my right side.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Mike Corso
:) BORN IN THE GOOD OLD USA :)
SSD on right side since 1974
BAHA surgery on 4/21/09 Dr. Carla Lawson
BP100 turn on date 8/13/09

Sefra22

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2009, 07:46:04 pm »
Hey Mike,
I'll be just one day after you since my date got changed to the 22nd. Hope all goes for well for you :)

Jan,
I'm sure you're right about the iPod, I'll just leave it at home. Yeah, I wouldn't want to push it with the guy with the drill, either!

Lisa
Lisa from Portland, Maine age 46
Diagnosed June 2006
15mm X 17mm AN right side 80% hearing loss
GK March 14,2007 Dr. Noren, Providence RI
1 Year follow-up MRI shows "slight shrinkage".
2 Year follow-up MRI shows "No Change".
3 Year follow-up MRI "stable".
BAHA surgery 4-22-09 BP100 Sept. 2009

leapyrtwins

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Re: BAHA surgery scheduled!
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2009, 02:33:34 pm »
Mike -

you are absolutely right - everyone's pain tolerance is different - but for those considering local rather than general, don't be concerned that you'll feel anything.  Your doc will make sure you're nice and numb before starting the procedure. 

Jan
Retrosig 5/31/07 Drs. Battista & Kazan (Hinsdale, Illinois)
Left AN 3.0 cm (1.5 cm @ diagnosis 6 wks prior) SSD. BAHA implant 3/4/08 (Dr. Battista) Divino 6/4/08  BP100 4/2010 BAHA 5 8/2015

I don't actually "make" trouble..just kind of attract it, fine tune it, and apply it in new and exciting ways