Got my BAHA surgery date

[tenai98]

I am booked for BAHA surgery on Sept 28.  My ENT keeps me in overnight...I am so excited that I dont have to wait til after my Mexico vacation...I wanna be able to swim in the ocean and if ENT couldnt get me in by end of Sept, the surgery would of had to wait as he stated I cant get surgery site wet for at least 3 months and he waits 6 months before turning the BAHA on....which works out great as Ill just be returning from my month long Florida holiday end of March..
JO

[Jim Scott]

JO ~

Congratulations on getting your BAHA surgery date - and at a good time for you, too!  Things are definitely looking up! 

Jim

[opp2]

?? how do we go three months without washing the area??

[tenai98]

Beats me....i had AN surger on Tues and the orderly washed my hair that Friday....Basically, ENT told me three months for not swimming in the oceaan...Plus I just learned yesterday that one cant leave the country if one has had surgery within 3 months...Surgery Sept 28...flight to Mexico Jan 2
JO

[leapyrtwins]

Opp -

don't worry.  This is Jo's surgeon's protocol.  It is not the norm.

I was able to wash my hair 24 hours post op - holding a plastic cup over my BAHA site - and I was able to lose the cup within a week to ten days.

It's also the norm to be able to attach the processor to the abutment after 3 months.  The not leaving the country restriction is unique to Jo's doctor, too.

Docs do things differently.

Jo -

congrats on the "date" - and thanks for your address; your Official BAHA Recovery Kit will be in the mail sometime next week.

Jan

[opp2]

Thanks for that. I haven't even had AN surgery yet and I'm considering my options. We have a swimming pool so I suppose I will have to hope that I can get the surgery in say..January so I can swim in May  

[JerseyGirl2]

Opp2,

Just wanted to reinforce Jan's assurance (not that she really needs any reinforcement!) that BAHA procedures vary greatly from doctor to doctor, so that you and others who are considering getting a BAHA device won't be discouraged by Jo's doctor's requirements.

To give yet another example of different procedures, my BAHA abutment was implanted at the same time as my translab surgery -- seemed like a wonderful idea to me and I jumped at it. Many (maybe most?) other doctors don't combine the surgeries and prefer a "waiting period" of at least several months between the AN surgery and BAHA abutment surgery. There are certainly valid reasons for this wait -- many patients find that SSD isn't that big a deal and discover that they can adapt quite readily to it; others don't know for sure that they'll be SSD as a result of their AN surgery ... so the BAHA implant wouldn't have been an option at the time of AN surgery anyway.

I think the bottom line in all of this is that once you've decided on a "BAHA doctor" you've also agreed to follow their protocols and procedures.

Best wishes as you continue researching your options!

Catherine (JerseyGirl 2)

[mikjul1]

Congrads JO  you will love it trust me and you will do fine we are hear for you, put that in there for Jan and Lori with that great chocolate treat baha bag that is the best part