Cochlear Implant Post Surgery

I am now home recovering. It has been 4 days since my surgery, it went well. The few hours after surgery it felt as if I had been hit by a train, I was shattered for ~ 12 to 18 hours. I consumed plenty of pain medications during that time. All my residual hearing is now gone! I hear absolutely nothing at all. I can now only experience sound by absorbing vibrations. The CI surgery was in my left ear, the better of the ears! while the right ear remains dormant.

The surgery inserted the internal components of the implant, the receiver is now under my skin and the electrodes have been inserted into the Cochlea. I must spend some time recovering and healing. There is some swelling and numbness around the left ear and the left side of my head. And now, I must wait two weeks until I get "switched on", or as some people call it, "activated". This is planned for 2nd August, when the external component is activated and the electrical signals start to stimulate the auditory nerve. It is then fingers crossed and a lot of rehab to train the brain to understand this new artificial sound. The rehab will take time, and in general it's around the 12 month window when they typically say; "this is the best we can do". From a timeline perspective it is not at all exact, they say go in with low expectations. I am hoping that, in ~ 8 to 10 weeks I can do some Zoom calls with cameras on (for lip reading) and subtitles enabled. For the next 12 months I return to the clinic for ~ 15 appointments, a mix of device tuning and speech and language therapy. Interestingly (and not planned as far as I know), my last appointment is my birthday in 2024. I am planning a celebration, a dinner in one of the top 10 steakhouses in the world, and there will be no expense spared!

As I have no residual hearing now, my lip reading has kicked in and I am doing pretty OK understanding conversations with family. Interestingly, lip reading some family members is easier than others. The no residual hearing thing is really tough (no sound in either ear, apart from Tinnitus!). I did underestimate the impact of this. For example, out for a walk, close to a busy road, a bus or truck passes close by without warning, that's hard to get use to. It's now exhausting having an conversation with someone. I previously said ~80% of my energy went into understanding a conversation, its now 110%! Having a meal with family and try to follow as best I can is like running a marathon. Though once I have the context of the conversation it's much easier to begin to understand what is being discussed. I probably get about 70% of what is being discussed from lip reading and context. Apple's Live Captions via iPhone reasonably good, especially in quiet settings, such as at home or in a car, but it's pretty much useless in a cafe (far too much background noise).

Everyone has been great (family, friends, and colleagues - TY), and everyone has been very understanding. I will do another update after switch on / activation.