got magnets?

Last Tuesday, we received a call from Ethan’s ear surgeon…he had an opening on Friday the 18th to surgically replace Ethan’s cochlear implant magnets we had removed in November. With a lot of coordination between Ethan’s oncology team, the cochlear implant team and the hospital administration (guaranteeing Ethan a private bed, as he would not be able to share a room), they successfully pulled off the surgery on Friday.

We arrived at the hospital in the early afternoon on Friday (Jan 18), he was in the OR at 12:45 pm, and out around 3pm. This surgery took longer than the surgery to remove the magnets, a little trickier to put them back in. Because he hadn’t ate or drank anything since 9pm the night before, he had a lot to make up for, and he was on IV fluids for the entire night and morning. We stayed on floor 10, somewhere we had never been, so we didn’t know anyone. It was a quiet, uneventful stay…

We were discharged on Saturday, about 24 hours after the surgery. He had a huge pressure bandage around his entire head. Consequently he was unable to wear his “sound”. Both he and I were prepared for this. He was happy to get home, and we managed his little bit of pain with Tylenol.

Ethan Monday afternoon

In the middle of Saturday night Ethan started running a fever, continuing all Sunday. He vomited a bit due to the fever, but was able to rest the entire day on the couch. Thankfully Nurse Grandma was here (as Daddy left for a Florida business trip on Sunday), and Mommy and Grandma worked together to keep Ethan feeling well, and convincing themselves this was just a post-op fever, and it should be over by the next day. It was hard balancing between the oncology world that we’ve lived in, where you call the doctor at the slightest fever, and the surgical world, where fevers are normal and par for the course.

Monday, fever was gone and Ethan was feeling much better aside from still having the huge bandage on, that was now falling down around his eyes. Thankfully Ethan’s surgeon called to check on him and said he’d see him Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. in Boston.

Ethan and I left before dawn on Tuesday to get to Boston on time. Dr. Roberson removed Ethan’s bandage and the sites looked good. There was no need to re-dress the sites. Ethan would not tolerate his “sound” when we tried to put it on, saying it felt “silly” and “funky”. The slight amount of swelling and tenderness from the surgery is the cause of the uncomfort.

Wednesday morning I tried putting Ethan’s sound on again, bribing with $5 this time. He tried it and kept it on. He had gone 4 ½ days without hearing. It was great to have him “tuned” back in. It’s amazing how well he does though without wearing his sound. He lip reads amazingly well. And he isn’t bothered by living in a silent world. It didn’t bother him in the slightest bit. But, you could tell he was happy to hear again. It was actually really funny to observe Ethan and Eliot for those days when Ethan wasn’t wearing his sound. Eliot was having a hard time remembering/comprehending that Ethan couldn’t hear him. It was more frustrating for Eliot than anyone. Eliot was so bothered by the fact the Ethan wasn’t listening to him or what he had to say.

So, now Grandma just left…Daddy’s expected back in a few hours…another fun-filled week gone by. Another big hurdle behind us, another obstacle we’ve overcome. We’re praying this is the last for awhile.

Emma squeezed some fun during the past week…a slumber party and catching up with some friends she hadn’t seen in awhile, Girl Scouts, and becoming an “official member” of GEMS, a girls youth group at a friend’s church that she loves to go to!

The surgeon wants to see Ethan again on Monday…so that’ll be a fun field trip to his Lexington office. And then Ethan’s not due back at Clinic until Wednesday, February 6. We continue to hope and pray for another outstanding report and clean bill of health.