Surgery #2

Miss Kat went bilateral today! Everything went very smoothly. We were at the hospital at 7am for a surgery start time of 8:30. They got us back within 10 minutes of our arrival. Miss Kat watched Spongebob and cuddled up with her Hello Kitty pillow, doll, blanket, nightgown and even shoes. By 8am the pre-op area was swarming with doctors and anesthesia came and gave Miss Kat her Versed (God bless this miracle drug!) and talked over the plan with us. Last time Miss Kat's face was super itchy from the narcotics when she woke up and the nice anesthesia man wanted to avoid this, so he drugged her completely through her IV, (and he totally succeeded!) At 8:32 they wheeled Miss Kat back into the operating room and Daddy, Grammy and I went to wait.

The surgery was scheduled to be finished at 10:45 but at 10:15 the surgeon called and let us know that everything went beautifully. The electrode was fully inserted, no complications and he didn't even need to remove the middle ear bone that he needed to last time. (Which wasn't a huge concern, I figure if he needed the space, TAKE IT, better that than having a facial nerve injury! But at least now she can take advantage of an future technology in that ear.) Everything went very well.

I was allowed to go back into the PACU (which they don't generally allow, but I played the ASL card, and they let me in!) And was there for Miss Kat waking up. It was much gentler this time, and she was less upset, but she was still pretty mad. She was upset that she couldn't lay on her ear, and she let me know that she thought Daddy should have been the one to come back, and that she wanted her scrub hat. (They let her pick a really cute hat in pre-op and promised she could take it home, and she was pretty indignant when she thought she didn't have it.)

After about a half an hour we went to her recovery room and Grammy and Daddy joined us. The nurse asked if she wanted a Popsicle or a soda and she turned to me and asked if she could have both, and I told her "Of course!". So, we watched a little more tv, and Miss Kat ate two Popsicles. Just as we were preparing for her discharge, Miss Kat got really nauseous and threw everything up....exactly like last time (on the way out the door). But, after that she felt much better and we headed home.

At home she got sick again, but after that she ate, and felt so much better. We all laid down and took a nice long nap, and when she woke up, Miss Kat was nearly back to 100%. We walked down to Redbox and rented a movie, headed to get some french fries and now we are sitting down to watch our movie.

It has been a long tough day for Miss Kat, and this morning I was questioning my decision, but really, it could be so much worse! She is up, walking around, playing with her happy meal toy, and in a few week, she'll finally have usable hearing in both ears!

Pre-op #2

We had Miss Kat's pre-op appointment for her left ear, bilateral, surgery. It was a truly ridiculous appointment. We were at the hospital for two full hours! And for what? We filled out some paperwork and made sure Miss Kat didn't have an active ear infection and......nope, that was everything. Grr, we saw the surgeon for a total of 90 seconds (seriously, not exaggerating here). In those 90 seconds he did say that he would try to make the implants line up, but that it is harder than it seems because when he is inserting the second implant, Miss Kat will be laying on her other ear....well, duh, how come that very reasonable fact never crossed my mind?

Things to do in St. Louis!

Well, our time here at CID is coming to a close. We get our car and head home on Thursday. It has been a great experience, and I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to do it. I want to again thank CID for their scholarship, and thank the wonderful donors who make it possible for CID to never turn away a child because they can not pay. I would like to thank Haven House as well. If they hadn't been here for us, this trip would have been impossible. They provided an inexpensive place for us to stay, meals, shuttled us to and from CID everyday, and even helped with the point of today's post, helped us find fun things to do on the week-ends!

CID is taking Miss Kat in filed trips every afternoon, and they are going to a lot of fun places. They went to the fire station, bowling, swimming, toured a grocery store and Cabella's, they went to Coldstone and made their own ice cream, lots of stuff! And on the week-ends we ventured out to have fun of our own!

So, if you are ever in St. Louis, don't miss:

The Science Center (It was a ton of fun, and we spent all day there...Oh, and it's free!)
The Magic House (It is a huge children's museum with 4 floors of stuff to do. It has a construction site, a math floor, and even a section about detective work. WARNING- they have a Van De Graff machine, so keep an eye out if you have a CI user, it's a BIG no-no.)
The Gateway Arch (Of course! They also have a cool museum under the arch. It is about the American frontier and the move westward. In fact, there was an exhibit about the Mormons traveling west...we have the very same exhibit at home, at the other end of the trail!)
The City Museum (Seriously, you HAVE to go here! We have added St. Louis to our list of "must go" action spots because of the City Museum. There are literally no words to describe how cool it is....except maybe 7 STORY SLIDE!!!)
Grant's Farm (This was an amazing trip. It is a little zoo that packs a punch. We were able to see the coolest elephant show ever, and you are up close to every single animal. They even let Miss Kat pet and feed the parrots, baby goats and a camel. It is free, and while it doesn't apply to us, maybe others will care....they also give out free beers to everyone.)

It's been a long 5 weeks, and Thursday I meet with all these wonderful professionals to go oer Miss Kat's testing and goals. I'm glad we came and can't wait to get home!!

Approval for Bilaterals!

We got our insurance approval today, Miss Kat goes bilateral the 28th!!


It's very exciting because we actually had to change insurance companies because the previous plan flatly denied bilaterals! We've only had the new plan since July 1st! It's an awful big expense for the very first week!

We also like that it's only been 19 months since the first so the rehab won't have to too long and the ear should catch up to the first pretty quick. Plus, hopefully she won't end up with a "preferred" ear because it should catch up.

Miss Kat is a little nervous. When we first brought it up she HATED the idea. I asked her some questions and she explained that she had some worries. She told me she was worried it would hurt, I explained that the doctor would give us some medicine to help the pain. Then she asked how she would sleep with two big bandages on her head....I thought about it, and said "No! Your first implant is fine. It is staying the same. You aren't getting 2 implants, you are getting a SECOND implant!" She understood, and now she is excited.

Testing....testing....

CID is really working hard for us! Over the next week or so they are going to be doing comprehensive testing with Miss Kat and write up a big report about her current level, and what kind of program and services she will need for the school year. I am so happy! They will be writing recommendations for the school at home, and helping me to know what appropriate goals would be (something we have always struggled with).

CID will be assess several areas with several different tests. Miss Kat will be taking:

 the Expressive Vocabulary Test for expressive vocabulary

  Peabody Picture vocabulary Test for receptive.

 For speech she will be taking for Articulation  the Goldman Fristoe Test

And for language she will be given a comprehensive expressie and receptive language test called Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals

So, I will return home, armed with this information, and with recommendations for exactly what kind of services and goals Miss Kat will need and how to go about getting them.