BAHA - local or general anesthetic ?

[leapyrtwins]

Trevi -

glad to hear it was quick & painless.  I'm a little confused, though.

If you only had local, how come you don't remember a thing 

Doesn't local just numb your head?

Jan

[BDB]

Jan,wishing you the best with your upcoming BAHA!Hope it all goes smooth!
Bruce

[Kate B]

I called to schedule my BAHA surgery this morning and said I'd go with local rather than general.

I was told that amazingly 98% of the BAHA surgeries my doc does - and from what I hear he does a lot - are with local anesthetic.  I was very surprised by this statistic 

Going with local eliminates a lot - the need (and cost) for an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist to put you "out" since the doc administers the meds; no lab work; no fasting; no need to wake up from the drugs; etc.

I figure I'm calm enough about the procedure to do it without being knocked out and as long as there is no pain I'll be fine.

Sure hope I'm right 

Jan,

In order to allay some of your wondering, could Chicago Ear give you references to talk to who have done it with a local?  Even though experiences vary, if they suggest one or two patients to talk to it might relieve some of the apprehension.

Kindest Regards,
Kate

[leapyrtwins]

Kate -

thanks for the suggestion, but I have no apprehension.  I did for a few days, but it's long gone.  I have nothing but the utmost faith and trust in Dr. Battista - and nothing can change that.  He has performed lots and lots of BAHA surgeries and even if I were his first patient to choose local - which I'm definitely not - he wouldn't let me do anything that he wasn't confident I could handle.  At this point, I can't wait until Tuesday at 9:30.  I'm actually anxiously awaiting the drill and that huge mastoid bandage on my head.  Sick - I know    But I've been planning on the BAHA since September and I'm more than ready to get on with it.

Bruce -

thanks for the good wishes.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Jan

[lori67]

Jan,

I'll be thinking about you on Tuesday morning!  Happy drilling!   

Lori

[leapyrtwins]

Thanks - just hope my hard head doesn't break the drill LOL

[sgerrard]

At this point, I can't wait until Tuesday at 9:30.  I'm actually anxiously awaiting the drill and that huge mastoid bandage on my head.

Well then by all means enjoy yourself on Tuesday! 

Best wishes,

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

Surgery on Tuesday morning went great; took a few tylenol through Tuesday evening; took last 2 early Wednesday morning; haven't had any since    Never filled the Rx for Vicodin - but had lots of offers from people I know to buy it from me if I'd fill the Rx for them.  Okay?

Removed my lovely "hat" (pictures on another topic entitled "My BAHA hat") 24 hrs post op.  Under the hat was a stiff square pink foam bandage held in place by a small round white plastic cap.  This was supposed to stay in place until next Wednesday when the doc was going to remove it.

But, this morning as I was pulling my shirt over my head to go into the shower, I felt a tug on my head, heard something hit the floor and looked down to see my bandage and cap on the bathroom floor   After staring at them in disbelief and feeling like a complete idiot, I decided I'd better call the doc to see what I should do. One of the corners of the bandage must have gotten snagged in my shirt.  It probably also didn't help that I was removing said shirt with my left hand while I used my right hand to brush my teeth.  Okay, I admit it, I like to multi-task LOL
 
Since it's only Friday, doc said it was way too early to have them removed and they needed to go back on.  Asked one of my twins - age 12 - to put it back on for me, but was met with a lot of "ooooooohs and grosses" so I had to travel to the doc's office so he could do it for me.  While I was there, I felt compelled to apologize profusely to the office staff for taking everyone's time for something so completely stupid.

Moral of the story - like my mother pointed out to me when I told her earlier today - don't wear a shirt that has to be pulled over your head post BAHA surgery!  I guess I figured I was smarter than that because I had pulled same shirt over my head about 6 times in the 2 days since I removed my "BAHA hat".

Some days I think I'd be better off just staying in bed - and today was just one of those days    Thank God my boss had no issues with me showing up 2 1/2 hours late for work. 

Jan

[lori67]

Jan,

I guess the doctor should have duct taped that thing on there, huh?   

I'm sure you didn't need to apologize to the office staff - I'm quite sure they've seen much worse than that!  Did you tell them that you were trying to do 12 things at once when the cap came off?  Oh well, I can't make fun of you too much - I do the same thing.

Hope tomorrow is a better day!
Lori

[leapyrtwins]

You know I'm a bit surprised he didn't think of duct tape 

Most men I know think it can be used for everything