AJ's surgery consult went wonderfully yesterday. We went over the surgery with Dr. W. We went in fully prepared and researched so we wouldn't be asking generic questions. We asked about a few of the surgical risks as they pertain to AJ. One of the issues with cochlear implants is damaging any residual hearing. Once you get into the cochlear and the electrode array is placed, any hearing that a patient would have is gone. In AJ's case, this is not an issue.
The surgery typically takes around 2-3 hours. It will be a morning surgery. They will test the implant before the incision is closed to make sure his brain is receiving this information. AJ will being staying overnight at Children's. For some reason, Children's only allows one parent to stay overnight with their child. We were told we could "fight" with the Children's hospital staff about that one.
We went over the consent form. As those words came out of Dr. W mouth and our eyes scrolled down the form, we got goosebumps...chills...butterflies. This is really going to happen. We will not see Dr. W again until the morning of surgery. AJ is going to be in great hands.
When Dr. W came in, he stated that he had spoken to AJ's CI audiologist earlier in the morning. He said that they would be sending a letter out (meaning: submitted to insurance) today. Later in the conversation he repeated himself, adding that a letter would be sent FedEx today, as they know we want to have AJ implanted as soon as possible.
THANK YOU. Thank you for finally hearing us! FedEx is bringing us to reality.