Christopher’s Second CI Surgery
Yesterday Christopher went through his second CI surgery. The pre-op routine was pretty much the same as before, but this time the anesthesiologist gave him some happy juice before they took him away. That was pretty funny… Christopher’s eyes were half closed and he had a dopey grin on his face. It’s not every day that you see your kid drunk as a skunk.
It turns out that Advanced Bionics had a representative in the OR for his surgery. Apparently they redesigned the electrode array so that it curls more, causing it to hug the inner part of the cochlea more. In theory this would allow the electrodes to more directly stimulate the auditory nerve, but they said that they haven’t seen a big difference in trials.
Anyway, afterwards we chatted with the representative, mostly because we wanted to hassle her about when the Auria was going to come out. We’re kinda tired of the body-worn processor, and can’t use the behind-the-ear model if we want to be able to trade it in for the new one when it comes out.
Bad to the surgery: Christopher’s recovery was pretty much the same as before. Today he’s been very wobbly on his feet, more than I remember before. The good news is that this time he isn’t messing with his bandage, so maybe we can keep the cup on for a full two days.
Here are some photos: