On Tuesday 6th of March this year
2018 my sister Judy will accompany me as we fly to Auckland where I will
be admitted to a ward at Auckland City Hospital. That afternoon we will
meet with the surgical team to talk over the procedure for surgery
being performed on me the next day.
After much thought almost 4 years ago when the
opportunity was offered to me to have another hearing implant, in spite
of the potential risks I decided to go ahead with it. The hearing
implant is called an ABI - standing for Audio Bypass Implant.
The Cochlea implant I currently have on my
right ear is connected to my audio nerve, the Audio bypass implant will
bypass the audio nerve and go directly into my brain stem.
This is the first time this implant is being
used on a deaf blind person but there are real possibilities for
improved hearing from what I currently have through my CI.
One of the surgeons who will be part of the
surgical team has been brought across from Germany as he is a specialist
in this area.
I am preparing to have an MRI scan this coming
week in readiness for the upcoming surgery, as I have a CI a great deal
of care is need and my head will need to be strapped in a special way to
prevent pressure on the implant magnet inside my head once I am placed
into the MRI scanner. If I have any pain I will need to press the buzzer
to alert the technicians to stop the scan as damage could occur to my
current CI implanted magnet.
Once surgery is completed on the Wednesday, I
will spend a day or two in the high dependency ward before being moved
to a general ward for up to another five days depending on how quickly I
recover.
I will return again to Auckland City Hospital
in April to have the implant switched on then the mapping journey
begins. Mapping requires being connected to a laptop with an Audiologist
working through the range of channels and high and low pitches to
create a map. In the early days maps are done every few weeks as big
changes occur in the early stages and then the mapping gets further
apart. Mapping will take place in the Wellington clinic.
I will have my iPhone and Smart Beetle with me
while in Auckland so I can send and receive txt and email messages plus
post an up date depending on how I am feeling.
Thank you to those that have passed on kind
thoughts for this next challenge and for lifting my case heavenward that
the Master will give great skill to the surgical team.
Details from Dr Michele Neeff re surgery:
It will be a shared procedure between
neuro-otologists (myself) and neurosurgeons including Prof Behr. you
will have an incision behind the ear and a small plate of bone would
have to be removed to gain access to the lower part of the brain, the
cerebellum and brainstem. There is a small opening within the brainstem
close to the hearing nerve which allows an implant electrode to be
placed. By going through this opening we gain close access to an
important relay station of the hearing pathway, the cochlear nucleus.
the accurate position of the electrode will be tested intraoperatively
and our audiologists will guide us to the final position by performing
hearing measurements. once we are happy the outside part of the implant
will be screwed into position, similar to the cochlear implant you have
got. The incision will be sutured and a bandage applied. You will be
transferred to the high dependency unit on the neurosurgical ward for
recovery. You should be able to return to the normal ward within one or
two days. Your final day of discharge will depend on the speed of your
recovery.
We will use the processor for the first time
after about one month when the switch on will be performed at Auckland
Hospital. You will then learn to hear with the brainstem implant.
I have not reviewed your latest scans but
anticipate that your current implant will stay and we will take the
other side for the brainstem implant.
