It has been 5 days since Coltons surgery. Here is an update. Colton is still amazing. For the most part he is acting normal. He is still more careful with his head than usual and we know that he is having a little bit of pain, but IB Profin doses are keeping it under control. We only give it as needed now, which is about every 6-8 hours. I got my first full nights sleep last night and I am hoping for a repeat performance. He is a little bit clingy to me, but as long as I am nearby, will be down and play. We have a few more days before we can get the incisions wet, so we had another sponge bath in the sink tonight. There has been no bleeding from the ears the last 2 days and he had is last dose of his antibiotic tonight. Here is what he looks like tonight.
The swelling has gone down and now we can see in implant inside his head. It sticks out quite a bit actually. It doesn't seem to bug him much unless he hits his head, and I am sure it will only get less tender. As he grows up, his skin will get thicker and eventually we won't be able to see the implant, but for now, it is there.
Here is our plan. The surgery put in the internal pieces of the implant. This is what it looks like. The circle part in the magnet that will hold the piece on the back of his head. The square is the chip and the thin string at the bottom is what they insert into the cochlea.
Right now Colton can NOT hear. He is completely deaf. The insertion of the implant destroys any hair cells inside his cochlea that he had. For the next 3 weeks while he heals he will not be able to hear. It is only when we add the processor. This is the "Brain" of the implant. It has the microphone on it where the sound will come in. The ear piece will hang over his ear and the circle part will magnetize to the back of his head.
Colton is scheduled to "be turned on" on Sept 1. Until then, we just heal. Even after he is turned on, it will take a lot of therapy for him to start to make sense of what he is hearing. It will be like he is a newborn in terms of his hearing. It is a long process, which is one reason while we feel so strongly about continuing sign language. But we are excited to finally be on this road.
The swelling has gone down and now we can see in implant inside his head. It sticks out quite a bit actually. It doesn't seem to bug him much unless he hits his head, and I am sure it will only get less tender. As he grows up, his skin will get thicker and eventually we won't be able to see the implant, but for now, it is there.
Here is our plan. The surgery put in the internal pieces of the implant. This is what it looks like. The circle part in the magnet that will hold the piece on the back of his head. The square is the chip and the thin string at the bottom is what they insert into the cochlea.
Right now Colton can NOT hear. He is completely deaf. The insertion of the implant destroys any hair cells inside his cochlea that he had. For the next 3 weeks while he heals he will not be able to hear. It is only when we add the processor. This is the "Brain" of the implant. It has the microphone on it where the sound will come in. The ear piece will hang over his ear and the circle part will magnetize to the back of his head.
Colton is scheduled to "be turned on" on Sept 1. Until then, we just heal. Even after he is turned on, it will take a lot of therapy for him to start to make sense of what he is hearing. It will be like he is a newborn in terms of his hearing. It is a long process, which is one reason while we feel so strongly about continuing sign language. But we are excited to finally be on this road.
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