Two ears, three surgeries

Chance: A little nervous, a little excited

The surgery was a rousing success.  It took about 3 hours which we were not expecting because we figured that the drilling into the skull had already been done during the first implantation.  The surgeon explained that though that made sense, a second surgery actually ended up taking the same amount of time if not a little bit more due to scar tissue etc.

It was interesting to see how Chance's dad and I have evolved over the years with these surgeries.
This third surgery found us taking a walk about around the University of Utah Hospital grounds, where the surgery took place, after eating breakfast.  It was a beautiful day and we had given our cell phone number to the front desk right after Chance went into surgery and they told us they would call us when Chance was done with surgery or if they needed us for any reason.  After our walk about around the University, we sat out in the balcony section of the parents waiting area.  We were completely calm, we were excited for Chance to be getting a second implant that would give him what he needs and we sat reading and waiting until Chance was out of surgery and we were called back to join him.

During the first one, we were a little nervous and tended to stay close to the parents waiting room.  We would wonder aloud where we thought he was in the surgery process, was the implant seated yet?  Was he responding well?  There was a level of  nervous/excitement because we did not know what exactly to expect.  Was Chance going to respond well to being implanted?  How much better would he be able to hear?  How big would the wound be and how much of a difference were we going to see between hearing aids and implant hearing?

As the anesthetic kicked in, Chance said, slurring his speech:
"Take a picture of my aaarrrmmm...."

Then after all of that anticipation, we had to wait another 4 weeks to turn the implant on to find out what would happen.

The second surgery found us more familiar with the process, but it had been a long decision for me to make and I spent a lot of time studying and praying and calling other parents with bilateral kids and seeing if they really saw that much of a difference and if they thought it was worth it.

There was a special moment during that second surgery while walking through a little garden on the hospital grounds that I had a sweet confirmation that the second implant was the right decsion.  I had been wondering about how much the second implant would impact Chance's life and if it would make that much of a difference.  An incredible feeling of excitement went through me strong enough to make me stop and take notice.  I suddenly knew that this second implant would open a new world to Chance and I was excited for him and what lay ahead in his life.

That feeling of confirmation has been felt for 6 years now.  The second implant truly has given Chance advantages in hearing that we could not have anticipated when we were making the decision to implant both ears.  Now that we have had a period of time without that second implant, we have seen so many advantages that Chance gets by having two.  We lived with one implant for two weeks and we noticed a big difference.  I asked Chance if he noticed a difference and he said, 'Ya!" in a tone that added a, "Oh man have I ever!"

Recovery after surgery, waiting for the OK to go home.

I asked Chance if he was hearing everything that he needed to in school and he told me that he wasn't.  I reminded him that he needed to sit so that his working implant was facing the teacher and sit near the front.
When I dropped Chance off at school one day, I told him a few times when kids had said "hi" to him because he kept walking and hadn't noticed.

Chance has had more questions about what is going on in class while wearing only one implant and at home, we have had more questions about what is going on around him as well.
We love that second implant. It makes a big difference.
Thankfully, we only had to wait two weeks instead of four to get this one turned on.