Viewing Wound
An approximately nine-inch gap was held together by staples very close together (different from a normal implant surgery). Tammy’s cut goes around the back of her ear where it is obvious that the ear was folded over to expose the middle ear during surgery.There is a slight bump near the top of the incision where Tammy can somewhat feel the implanted parts. The bump does not protrude out of the skin and is completely embedded into her skull. There appeared to be no skin flaps.When the wound was exposed for the first time, the tape and gauze were removed six days later in the bathtub. Tammy’s husband thought that her head looked like she had a "terrible wound." There was dried blood and crust surrounding the area but it did not appear to be infected, red or swollen which was a good sign. It just needed to be cleaned. Four days into recovery found Tammy trying to get some of the tape out of her hair when a large chunk of hair came loose in her hand. She was upset but realized that the hair they shaved must have stuck to the tape rather than being completely removed. She immediately contacted her surgeon whom stated that washing her hair might help remove the paper tapes.
No Showers
However, water or soap in the hair was not permitted for the first few days. After a few days, her husband could wash her hair, but had to keep water and soap away from the wound. By the eighth day, all of her hair could be washed and water was allowed to wash over the wound to clean it but she could still not get soap on the wound. She looked forward eagerly to her first shower since surgery. She anticipated that the water would wash away the blood and other dried material, particularly the crusting on the ear. Her husband helped her with the shower as she could not stand very well yet, she was too dizzy still.
Vibrations and Tinnitus
As time passed, the loud noises subsided, replaced by all kinds of other strange noises (beeping, ringing, smaller scale roaring, etc) which are all normal according to the surgeon. The discoloration in the right side of her face lasted five days and the swelling of her jawline subsided after the eighth day. One day during recovery her husband was running the lawnmower outside and she could feel the vibration and pulling on her head as he came close or went further away. It was painfully strange and she made her husband shut the lawnmower off. She said it felt like he was coming through the wall with it.
Changed Taste
She has found that many foods she once liked, she no longer likes and bases her likes/dislikes on the texture of foods rather than by taste since she no longer has taste buds. Loss of taste continues to be a side effect of the surgery and can be either temporary or permanent according to the surgeon. Ironically, many foods she used to dislike she now likes. She has been eating a lot of soup because it’s the easiest thing to put in her mouth. Nausea went away after five days but she was unable to take nausea prevention medicine because it made her throw up.Aborted Removal
One week after surgery, on July 21, Tammy’s primary care physician (not her surgeon) tried to remove the staples from Tammy's head. The way staples were removed was with a surgical staple remover. The doctor takes and crimps the middle of the staple to straighten the ends out, and then yanks the staple out.The normal removal time varies and usually occurs 10 – 14 days post surgery. The doctor had to stop because it hurt so much and Tammy did not have any painkillers. She wished she had had a bite block at the time and had taken her percocet pain medicine but found it very hard since it hurt her ear and all of her percocet was now gone. The doctor prescribed more percocet to be used specifically for the staple removal pain and the staple removal appointment was postponed until Monday, July 23 when all 20 staples would be removed. The surgeon recommended that a lidocaine topical be administered next time.
Progress Continues
Tammy’s back and outer ear is still sensitive to touch 10 days post surgery and she still experiences pain in that area but no longer takes pain medication for it. On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being highest, Tammy says her pain in the beginning was a 9. It has gone down now to a 3 if her ear is not bothered in any way.Tammy feels she is coming along great and insists that not everyone’s experience can or will compare to hers. Some people bounce back just hours following CI surgery, while others take a little longer to come around.
