I was feeling confident about getting the BAHA, and I'm scheduled Nov 12 for surgery. However, I do have several concerns especially after seeing Jo's pic!!!!! Yikes!
I didn't expect to see so much and so large of an incision - since I'm a keloid scar forming person this is a potential issue. Please tell me that its not a big deal! I'm looking for reassurance here!
Melinda,
Please don't let Jo's picture freak you out. I asked my husband, since he probably examined my implant site more often and more thoroughly than I did, to look at her picture to confirm that my BAHA implant area
never looked like that ... and he did indeed confirm it. He said that I had some "crud" along the line of the incision, but it (the crud) was never more than about a quarter of an inch "wide" -- and the whole area healed within a reasonable timeframe. I can't remember how long it's been since Jo's implant, but I think it's been a few weeks? I'm glad that she got some reassuring news from her nurses and hope that the doctor will agree that things are progressing well.
As far as wearing a hat goes -- I have to say that I'm not much of a hat wearer and I've made sure that every coat/jacket/raincoat I've purchased since my surgery has a hood! I do wear a hat when I shovel snow and I don't wear my BAHA then, so there's no problem. The sound processor goes on and off very easily, so you could consider just putting it on after you go inside and remove your hat, and taking it off when you get ready to don your hat and go outside. I recall seeing some e-mail exchanges on the BUSK site (a British-based BAHA users forum) about people cutting holes in baseball hats, etc. so they could wear them with their BAHAs.
Best wishes as you make your decisions!
Catherine (JerseyGirl 2)
