Pre-Op checkup with the ENT

Thursday we met with Dr. K for one more time before surgery. She checked his left ear and pronounced it all clear and good to go.  Peter had not napped much, and was a bit cranky, but he really liked looking at the little light she had (is it a otoscope? - the tool they use to see in your ear). She distracted him with the light so I could ask my questions :)
I wanted to make sure the surgery wasn't going to be five hours- so she walked through it.
6:30 -Arrive, meet with her and anesthesiologist, maybe the whole team. Get all the consent forms and papers filled out.
8:30ish Peter will get a drink to make him sleepy. They will then start all the prep- IV, electrodes taped on him, shave a little bit of his hair. This would all take 30-45 minutes.
9:30ish surgery would actually start.  They do not do a "micro incision" but it will be behind his ear, and probably around 2 inches long. They used to drill out a recessed space for the internal magnet all the way down to the dura (membrane around the brain), but they don't go that deep now.  She  said initially the shallower space may make the bump under the scalp more prominent, but there is lower infection risk, and that the skull will grow around it quickly. They anchor the internal piece with two screws into the bone connected by a nylon strap. The strap and the  recession ensure there is no migration of the internal piece. The electrode is then placed. She ordered both shapes of the electrodes AB offers, plus backups of both shapes. One is a J shape, and the other is more of a coil.  Once the electrode is placed they will take an X-ray to verify placement. There has been some info online about using Pre- and Post- implant CT images to map CIs. Dr. K said that you could always get another CT if the mapping wasn't going well,but that she preferred to spare the kids the radiation exposure, and that X-ray machines were portable, faster, and meant less time under. Once the X-ray gives the all clear her part is mostly done. They just need to close everything up. This should be 2-3 hours., then there may be a post-op stop before recovery.
I can be with Peter in the recovery room, and will spend that  night in the hospital with him. Dr. K's practice is to always admit pediatric patients, so the person who said overnight admission was only a possibility was out of the loop.

Now I just have to keep Peter from getting and kind of respiratory illness. Also, no more hearing aid in the left ear. Don't know exactly why, but she said to discontinue from two weeks before surgery.

Once the Left side is activated and we see how Peter is doing we can schedule the Right side, but she saw no issues with late July/early August. She understood my desire to have everything done before I had to start juggling the school stuff again.

Nine Days now until surgery!