Day of the surgery
On February 20th, 2020 the time had finally come. I have received a CI. I hadn’t been allowed to eat or drink since midnight. Anesthesia started at 7:30 a.m. I woke up at around 1:30 p.m. I felt that I urgently needed fresh air and took off my breathing mask. A carer brought me a glass of water and I was reassured. When I was back in my room I was instructed to drink at least 2 glasses of water within 2 hours and keep it to myself. Only then was I allowed to eat dinner at 4:00 p.m. Despite the early hour I was hungry for bears.
Before the operation I had a slight tinnitus at about 103.5Hz in my left ear. The surgery was on the right ear and the tinnitus in the other ear has been gone since then. In the first night after the operation I had ear noises on the CI side. Strictly spoken that was the sound of a V8 engine. Two nights later this too had disappeared.
The operation itself went very well. The facial nerve has been fully preserved, the sense of smell and thus taste were still there, the sense of balance was largely stable. I am very happy about the latter, because I cannot compensate for balance fluctuations with my eyes. I needed pain medication twice a day in the usual dose in the first night. On the second night I just felt the pressure bandage on the ear cup was too strong. The scar has become very good according to my ENT specialist who specializes in CI.