one week out from CI surgery. recovery advice. SSD.

[Prof Mo]

Hello everyone.  I am  7 days post surgery and healing fairly well.  however, my ear feels like it has fluid inside like when your ear gets clogged with water when swimming or taking a shower.  so far it has not changed.  told my doctor about it and he says it should go away as the 'body should absorb the fluid soon'.  did anyone else have this problem?  thanks. 

[Dianna]

Hi, i took my shower 48 hrs after surg. Taking off the snug bandage let air in plus maybe a little water got inthe ear. I dont like laying on my implant side but eventually did it in my sleep. That day the ear seemed less plugged. Eventually the fluid feeling did go away.  I was taking steroids also which reduces swelling.

[Mary Beth]

@right ear dream

I did not experience that.  I did sleep in a recliner or propped up in bed for the first few nights.  I hope you feel better soon.

[Prof Mo]

thanks.  I just had my 13 day post op appointment.  the ENT surgeon looked in my ear and said this is very common and that it is blood in my middle ear from the surgery.  says it will eventually go away.  I got my activation on April 14th so I'm getting my rehab materials organized. 

[Mary Beth]

April 14th will be here soon!!! Exciting! That’s when the fun begins.

[Mike F]

I am also 1 week post surgery. I am feeling pretty good in general with surprisingly little discomfort. One thing I have noticed is now I have 0 hearing in the implanted ear. Before surgery, If I had to guess, I might have had 10 - 20% hearing in that ear. I couldn't make out words but I could hear sounds in the environment with a hearing aid. I am curious if others have had this experience. If the implant was placed with the intent to preserve the little residual hearing that was left, would that acoustic hearing come back, possibly in time? I'm not sure if it will make much difference, but I have been dwelling on it. I am now in total silence until April 22nd. I am feeling very optimistic and I have no where to go but up! Thank you every one on this forum for sharing your experiences, it is really helpful!

[Mary Beth]

@Mike F

congratulations!  I hope your recovery is going well.

 

I lost the residual hearing in my left ear when I was implanted.  I had no residual hearing in the right ear to lose.  It felt odd at first but I quickly got used to it.

Whether any residual hearing remains is usually not known until we heal a bit.

The fun begins at activation.

[Mike F]

Thank you Mary Beth, that's what I was guessing but had nothing to base it on. Lack of information leads to anxiety!

[Andrew42]

I too lost all residual hearing. My surgeon warned me ahead of time of the possibility, (80%) and also told me they could not predict the outcome. I realised shortly after surgery what had happened and had it confirmed on activation.  Frankly, it is something I neither miss nor worry about. I have also found that putting the processor on and taking it off is easier than doing the same with a hearing aid so I am really not inconvenienced at all, (so long as my processor works!). Good luck with the recovery.

[Mike F]

Thanks Andrew. Were you fitted with an EAS system at first? From what I can gather, if you have enough residual hearing, the acoustic component can help. It's good to hear that you had a good outcome without it. In my case, since I had so little left, it was probably never a consideration. Counting days!

[Andrew42]

@Mike FNo I never had an EAS system. I went from Hearing aid to Rodo vias implant and activation.

[MikeM]

I had my surgery a week and a half ago. I have the same feeling in my left implanted ear. It seems to feel that way less  and less as each day passes. I have a post op visit with my surgeon tomorrow and an activation appointment immediately following.

[Dianna]

Hiya! After surg my implanted ear felt totally plugged, as it was healing, i still felt totally deaf. I took steroids to help with preservation of the hairs. However, the hearing tests revealed i still had some hearing. I was activated with sonnet with no earmold for first 30 days.  So most of my listening was streaming with bluetooth. After getting the earmold and a mapping at the same time i couldnt tell if the eas or programming tune up caused some changes. Word recognition was definately different and improved from first activation. Residual hearing cant be ruled out until full healing is done. I have a samsung phone with the sonnet as hearing device, so elec and accoustic are combined.

Patience and daily rehab in the beginning really helps alot!

[Heather W]

Hi everyone, I just had my implant surgery on Monday May 16th. First 24 hrs were unexpectedly rough with vertigo, dizziness, and N&V. Only minor ear, scalp incision pain. Thankfully my vestibular symptoms resolved quickly. Now, I’m still dealing with feeling a bit off in my head (woozy, especially with certain movements.  My neck muscle right under my incision and my jaw are sore and tight and I swear I can feel the electrodes in my inner ear. It’s uncomfortable.  When I turn my head it pulls on incision and I can feel it pulling inside my ear. Has anyone else experienced  these symptoms? I’ve definitely lost my residual hearing in that ear as well. I’m on a 7 day course of steroids.  Just hoping these symptoms slowly resolve with time. Activation day June 20th!

[Mary Beth]

@Heather W

Congratulations on your CI.

I always play it safe and contact my CI center about any medical concerns.  I hope you feel better soon.

June 20th will be here soon and activation is when the fun begins.  Which processor did you choose?

[KellieZ]

Heather, there was something in my paperwork about not turning your head too far in either direction and to sleep with a few pillows under your head. 
I had surgery in February.  Because of my Meniere's I've had an adjustable bed for many years so propping with pillows was minimal. 
From my past history we were all worried I'd have major vestibular symptoms, but I got very lucky.  He even gave me a scopolamine patch because they were worried about my being dizzy immediately after surgery.  I took pain pills for a few days after so I don't remember serious pain, but I have had occasional moderate/slight pain and twinges at different times, even as late as two months after.  He warned me ahead of time that that's part of the healing process.  They said it takes a lot longer time than you'd think for the swelling to go down and to complete the healing process.  The audiologist said something to the same effect at my last visit in May.    I did lose my sense of taste on my tongue on that side and still have some nerve pain on the top of my outer ear.  Both well-known issues with this type of surgery.  It could take from 6 months to a year for those to be resolved.  Three months out the outside of the ear has gotten much better, the tongue is taking longer.      
Definitely call your doctor.  Especially since the weekend is coming up.  If it's of any comfort, I assume it more likely the muscles, fibers, and nerves in and around your ear recovering from being moved around during surgery and not the implant itself, but, hey, I'm not a doctor, what do I know?  .    

[Dianna]

Hiya, i too had some light dizzyness id say a week or two. I basically was so excited after activation i forgot about it and it (slight dizzyness) was just gone. I had terrible mouth feeling during the prednisone consumption, once that was over ( 4 weeks) mouth was back to normal. Taste is nearly normal now at 9 months post surgery. It just doesnt bother me much.

The area below my magnet is still sensitive but not painful at all.  At bedtime i give the area a little massage. I wear my sonnet2 eas from wake to sleep, occasionally the audio stream set-up because its a tad bigger than regular battery cover,  but not painful. When i shared with audi, she handed me a sample of the unit that is under the skin and it seemed larger than i rembered, lol. 

Its now part of me and i love it!

 

 

[Dianna]

On 4/2/2022 at 6:17 PM, Mike F said:

I am also 1 week post surgery. I am feeling pretty good in general with surprisingly little discomfort. One thing I have noticed is now I have 0 hearing in the implanted ear. Before surgery, If I had to guess, I might have had 10 - 20% hearing in that ear. I couldn't make out words but I could hear sounds in the environment with a hearing aid. I am curious if others have had this experience. If the implant was placed with the intent to preserve the little residual hearing that was left, would that acoustic hearing come back, possibly in time? I'm not sure if it will make much difference, but I have been dwelling on it. I am now in total silence until April 22nd. I am feeling very optimistic and I have no where to go but up! Thank you every one on this forum for sharing your experiences, it is really helpful!

Hi ther, i too at first thought residual hearing was gone, but in the weeks following, testing showed some hearing. When i unplug the eas mold, there is a difference, im 9 months following surg. I also clean my ears periodically with peroxide. Of course skipped cleaning until 6 months post op, and could hear the fizzing. It does take time to heal.

Congratulations on your implant and welcome to hear peers!

[Mike F]

Thanks Dianna, I am now 3 months post-op, and while I haven't gained any residual hearing, I am realizing its probably not necessary because the CI is providing a very full sound and speech clarity is very good. I'm sure the acoustic component could help but I am grateful for the progress I've had!

[Mary Beth]

@Mike F

which processor are you using?

[Mike F]

The Sonnet 2. I also have the Rondo 3 which I use occasionally 

 

[Dianna]

On 6/26/2022 at 6:56 AM, Mike F said:

Thanks Dianna, I am now 3 months post-op, and while I haven't gained any residual hearing, I am realizing its probably not necessary because the CI is providing a very full sound and speech clarity is very good. I'm sure the acoustic component could help but I am grateful for the progress I've had!

Hi mike!

I thought it was all gone also. However when monitoring, i can definately tell a difference when i remove the earplug. I still have 50 percent in my unimplanted ear. Its kinda strange, but i feel like my brain is actually centralizing the sounds in my head!