Phantom Music

It's been very quiet this time. I expected a repeat performance from my Jamaican steel band or at least the man who plays the wood block or castanets! I had sooooo much company last time: a radio man chatting about something I couldn't quite understand, heavy rain on the roof, the approach and departure of a passing train every time I turned over in bed. Where is everybody?


The night's are so still . . . it's kind of eerie. Shouldn't my newly implanted ear be searching for sound and inventing its own when none is found? My left ear sure did 8 years ago! Hello?

A Week Later

Ah . . . I'm finally feeling drug-free and sensing the approach of "normal". Yippee!! It takes me such a long time to get over medications, even over-the-counter cold medicines wipe me out. It's been a week of slight improvement each day. Some dizziness and queasy stomach when not looking straight ahead has kept me inactive, unable to focus on the computer screen, and fairly bored. But I'm so grateful for no surgery complications and no fullblown vertigo. I am blessed indeed!

Maybe it's my faulty longterm memory, but I think my head is healing faster this time. I'm already sleeping without a pile of pillows and the incision is clean with no visible redness or stitches (I guess they are internal somehow; the surface did have some clear glue that stuck to the gauze, which was a bit tricky to remove when the pressure cup came off). The taste disturbance on the right side of my mouth seems to be lessening some. Almost everything tasted like cardboard on one side last week but slightly more flavorful this week. Having fresh oranges from our own citrus trees has been such a treat this time, definitely a Florida perk. Mom fixed me some proverbial chicken soup and delivered it the day after we got home from Tampa, another great plus for living in central Florida this time around. All in all, I am feeling quite humbled by the love and care of Almighty God and the prayers and kindnesses of family and friends.

The Second Time Around

It is now 4 days after my surgery and I'm ready to talk about it . . . a little bit. I can't help but compare this surgery with my first one nearly 8 years ago. The differences seem to outnumber the similarities. Some of these differences may be a product of time between surgeries (e.g., improved surgical procedures, smaller implant) or of location (e.g., different state, different hospital, different surgeon). Nonetheless, this time

• no shaved hair
• shorter time in surgery
• longer wait in pre-op (4 hours!) - even had to run a pregnancy test, hospital policy if "skipped" months. I'm going through menopause, for heaven's sake!
• pneumococcal vaccine before surgery
• incision behind and at the base of the right ear
• longer time in hospital recovery room
• velcroed headband with no surgical tape on my face
• less tinnitus
• overnight hospital stay due to nausea, in spite of anti-nausea patch positioned behind the other ear
• some bruising on the right side of my neck
• days of drymouth
• some hoarseness but no sore throat