My BAHA surgery was a piece of cake too

[JerseyGirl2]

Karen and Jan,

I have an Intenso since the hearing in my good ear isn't perfect. The Intenso is actually larger than the Divino -- but just about as unobtrusive; I have absolutely no trouble concealing it with my hair, which is fairly short.

Catherine (JerseyGirl 2)

[leapyrtwins]

Wendy -

I'm glad I'm not the only post op BAHA patient who had a shower accident.  If you get to the symposium I may have to introduce you to my doctor and tell him about this.  I'm convinced he thought I pulled my bandage off on purpose just so I could make the 40 minute trek to his office to crack a few more jokes for him   

I can only imagine that you were as freaked out by your accident as I was by mine.  I remember standing in the bathroom and hearing my cap hit the floor.  I bent down and picked it up and just stood there in shock for a few minutes looking at it, thinking NO WAY !!    Then I ran downstairs to page my doctor.

He told me I could put it back on, but as you know that's not as easy as it sounds.  You can't really do it by feel and you obviously can't see the site since it's in back of your head!  He asked about having one of my children put it back on for me - which made me wonder if he's ever had children    My nearest adult relative is 90 minutes away, so I opted to take the trip to his office. 

Glad to hear you like the BAHA Recovery Kit - Lori and I may add or change items as time goes on and new ideas pop into our heads.  We may just patent the idea - so even if there are look-a-likes, we'll still have the official version.

Kay - any mail for you yet?  Does UPS go to Texas?

Catherine -  thanks for the clarification on the size of the Intenso.  I knew one of the processors was smaller than the other.  I just got it backwards 

Jan

[wendysig]

Hi Jan -

I didn't really freak out when I realized the cap fell off  but I did have that "Oh no!" moment, and tried to put it back on myself before I called Dr. Choe.  I kind of  wondered  if he thought I did this on purpose though,  because I actually laughed (from embarrassment) when I told him what I'd done.  He also told me I could put it back on myself, but fat chance of that happening.  I tried using a hand mirror rso I could see the abutment, but every time my hand was near it, , I couldn't see it in the mirror anymore because my hand was in the way.   I wonder if you and I are the only ones to have done this?  I was home alone, Rob was at work, the kids were at school -- like they would have been any help anyway -- HA!    Well maybe Rob would have been.  One of my neighbors is a nurse, but of course, she was asleep.  I can always tell because when her car is outside the house, if her blinds are open I know she's up -- her door is usually open too, just the storm door is closed as a rule.   I used the  plastic cup from my BAHA Recovery Kit yesterday and it worked like a charm.  I will be sure to use it from now on as long as the healing cap is there.  What a great idea!

Wendy

[leapyrtwins]

Wendy -

glad you like the plastic cup.  My doc suggested a styrofoam cup when I showered and I had none in the house, but having kids, I had lots of plastic ones.  Worked well for me 

You've mentioned jaw pain after your surgery.  I didn't have any, so I'm curious to know if others had it.  Lori?  Tammy?  Karen?  Does anyone know if jaw pain is common? and if so, why you'd have it? 

Jan

[wendysig]

Jan,
Dr. Choe told me he had to go through the temporalis muscle which is one of the muscles used for chewing.  I looked it up and it looks like it starts near the temple and goes around your your ear, across  the temporal bone and back to the mandiible (lower jaw).  I also think this is what was causing my headache.  Neither are giving me a problem anymore and I feel great!

Wendy

[lori67]

I had jaw pain before my surgery from TMJ.  I didn't notice that it got any worse after the surgery though.  Although, not having much sensation on that side of my head and face has probably helped keep the pain to a minimum!  A silver lining to that cloud!   

Lori

[wendysig]

Hi Lori,
I was very surprised to NOT have much numbness near my abutment at all.  I have some numbness about halfway around the abutment and a little right above it.  The side closest to the back of my head has feeling and directly in front of it has feeling and my jaw feels completely normal.  That's probably why I did have some jaw pain  I can also feel it when I touch the healing cap.  I guess everyone is different.

Wendy

[leapyrtwins]

Wendy -

thanks for the explanation.  It always fascinates me to read about other's experiences with AN surgery and with BAHA surgery - and with radiation, too, for that matter.  As you say, everyone is different, and I find I'm always learning something new from those differences.

Jan

[Dawn]

Hi Wendy,

How are you doing?  Quick question for you or anyone else who's had the BAHA surgery.  Why do you have to wait 90 days after the surgery to get the actual hearing transmitter or whatever its called. 

I feel like I'm back in school with all the information I'm learning....lol

Dawn

[Pooter]

My understanding is that you give it 90 days so that the entire surgical site has healed.  Putting the transmitter on earlier than that (like right away) you run the risk of infecting the surgical site.  Just how I understand.  I'm not a doctor, don't play one on tv, and I don't wear BAHA.  Just based on research I've done.

Regards,
Brian

[JerseyGirl2]

Hi, Dawn,

I wear a BAHA (Intenso) and the 90-day wait between surgery and putting on the sound processor portion of the device for the first time is to give the abutment (the titanium "screw" which is implanted behind your ear during the surgery) time to grow into (I believe the technical term is "ossify" or something similar) and be surrounded by the bone. The "BA" portion of the name stands for "Bone-Anchored." Many doctors (mine included) adhere to the 90-day wait, though I've heard of others who don't wait quite so long. My BAHA implant was done at the same time as my AN translab procedure (i.e., while I was still under general anesthesia). This seems to be a fairly common practice at House Ear Institute in L.A.; many other doctors prefer to have their patients wait several months after the AN surgery. I was delighted to get my BAHA implant at the same time as my surgery, but I have yet to hear anyone who waited until later report anything negative about doing it at a later date. Most folks compare the BAHA surgery to a dental procedure and usually have it done under local anesthesia (though some patients prefer general).

I've worn my BAHA since June -- it's a big help -- and has become as totally second nature as popping in a pair of contact lenses.

Catherine (JerseyGirl2)

[wendysig]

Hi everyone,

I think I set a new record today.  When I got up this morning and looked in the mirror there was my healing cap danglling in my hair.  I can't believe this thing fell off again!  I had a restless night last night and must have knocked it off while I was tossing and turning.  I actually managed to convince Jennifer (my 14 year old) to help me put it back on.  She just positioned it and I pushed on it until it locked in place.  I hope it's easier to put the real thing on but I imagine it will be.  There won't be a bandage between the abutment and processor and it will probably be easier to feel where it's supposed to go. I'm seeing Dr. Choe tomorrow and hope I can take this thing off once and for all.  For now, I have to say I'm pretty proud of Jennifer for helping me since she is very squeamish as a rule.  I guess she really loves her mom!

Wendy

[leapyrtwins]

Dawn -

the 90 day waiting period isn't for infection - as Pooter suspected - it's to give the abutment (titanium rod) time to calcify into the skull.

Some docs don't make you wait 90 days - some let you wear the processor sooner - but my doc told me he makes patients wait 90 days because he's concerned about "torque".  From what I recall, he said that the motion of attaching and removing the processor can actually cause the abutment to become "misaligned" (or something like that) in the skull. 

I read an article about BAHAs shortly after I had my surgery and it said that once an abutment is calcified into the skull the only way to remove it would be to actually cut around it and take it out with a "chunk" of skull.

My doc did mention to me that out of the 200+ implants he's done, only one patient decided the BAHA just wasn't for her.  In that case, he did not remove the abutment, the patient just stopped wearing the processor and the skin eventually grew over the abutment.

Jan 

[lori67]

Wendy,

I think that is some sort of record!  Maybe you should duct tape that thing into place!!

Lori

[wendysig]

Lori, Lori, Lori -

I knew I could count on you to come up with something funny!to say about this -- thanks for the laugh!


Wendy