Waiting....
I finally have an appointment to meet with the ENT surgeon at Manchester! I only discovered the date of it after emailing and asking Peter to call as it had been a while since I had the scans. I see the surgeon on June 6th and I am finally starting to feel a touch nervous. Facebook has been a great source of information with a host of groups dedicated to people with CIs and those considering them, but it feels so speculative to ask questions within a bubble of a community with such a range of experiences and backgrounds.
Before I attend the appointment, I will be drawing up a list of questions to ask the surgeon in order to help reassure me of any decisions made. From what I gather, this is the appointment where I get an official yes or no and the enormity of that is slowly sinking in. I have to think about the immediate implications for my job as a teacher and short term recovery as well as adapting to the CI. I had hoped, somewhat unrealistically and optimistically, that surgery could be done during the summer but considering that it has been a wait of 3 months since the scans, this is not looking or feeling like a possibility. I guess I shall find out more on June 6th.
I've already googled the surgeon and found a paper he co-authored just over a year ago. Makes for some interesting reading and I am going to find out whether he considers me a strong candidate when compared with the sample utilised in the experiment. I am concerned by the percentage differences between the pre/peri-lingual group and post-lingual groups as there is a big difference although the former samples reported positive outcomes so I guess it is all subjective! I also realise that my percentages for the BKB/cuny weren't stunning so to achieve the percentages reported would be pretty amazing whatever happens.
Link to the paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27099106
Links with useful information regarding questions to ask
https://blog.medel.com/42-questions-ask-hearing-implant-surgery/
http://cicadaqld.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/42-Questions-to-ask-About-Cochlear-Implant-Surgery.pdf
https://cochlearimplanthelp.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/surgery-questions-suggestions1.pdf
Before I attend the appointment, I will be drawing up a list of questions to ask the surgeon in order to help reassure me of any decisions made. From what I gather, this is the appointment where I get an official yes or no and the enormity of that is slowly sinking in. I have to think about the immediate implications for my job as a teacher and short term recovery as well as adapting to the CI. I had hoped, somewhat unrealistically and optimistically, that surgery could be done during the summer but considering that it has been a wait of 3 months since the scans, this is not looking or feeling like a possibility. I guess I shall find out more on June 6th.
I've already googled the surgeon and found a paper he co-authored just over a year ago. Makes for some interesting reading and I am going to find out whether he considers me a strong candidate when compared with the sample utilised in the experiment. I am concerned by the percentage differences between the pre/peri-lingual group and post-lingual groups as there is a big difference although the former samples reported positive outcomes so I guess it is all subjective! I also realise that my percentages for the BKB/cuny weren't stunning so to achieve the percentages reported would be pretty amazing whatever happens.
Link to the paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27099106
Links with useful information regarding questions to ask
https://blog.medel.com/42-questions-ask-hearing-implant-surgery/
http://cicadaqld.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/42-Questions-to-ask-About-Cochlear-Implant-Surgery.pdf
https://cochlearimplanthelp.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/surgery-questions-suggestions1.pdf
Comments
Post a Comment