IT'S OVER!!!

Well the surgery is over and the implant is in and I PRAY and PRAY that we will never have to return to that surgery floor again! Surgery was only supposed to last an hour and a half and ended up being over 5 hours!! I was a nervous wreck and paced the tiny hallway for over two hours at one point. He went back at 7:50 a.m. and was supposed to be back to us around 10:00 a.m. and didn't get back to us until 1:20 p.m.! This was supposed to be the shortest surgery and ended up being the longest! We are so thankful that we have a surgeon who is very meticulous and takes his time and doesn't rush through the procedure.

There was a lot more scar tissue than he had expected from the surgery done 3 weeks ago and so that took longer to remove. The implant went is very smooth and all the fluid that was seen during the first surgery was gone so that was great news! Then he went to do the cochleostomy and noticed that Briggs' cochlea was formed correctly but tilted or turned or not positioned correctly or something like that... there was a problem with his cochlea. So that took a little longer to maneuver around. Then he went to do the cochleostomy and experienced a "gusher". This means that his ceribal spinal fluid came through the tiny hole that was drilled and that is not a good thing. BUT it was a very tiny leak and he got it stopped right away and spent a lot of time sealing the hole. The opening that is drilled is 1mm and the electrode wire is .8mm so you're dealing with a VERY small amount of space and he said you're basically taking a tiny needle and packing tissue around the open space. So that took a majority of the time. They hooked up the device and checked the electrodes and his nerve responded beautifully so that was GREAT news! The audiologist called me and said that often times with a gusher they have to send stronger impulses to get the nerve to fire back but they didn't have to do that with him. His nerve responded right away and perfectly!! Dr. Lusk assured us that he did not have a "gush" of fluid and it was VERY minor and he spent a lot of time focusing on the seal and just watching it to make sure no fluid came through. He also said that Briggs produces scar tissue fast and that will also seal that hole tighter. Please pray Briggs does not have problems with this!!!

It's taking him a little longer to recover from this surgery but that is to be expected b/c he was under longer and just had over 3 hours of digging around in these 3 weeks ago. He's definitely getting back to good ole Briggs though!!

Thank you all SO much for your continued prayers and support! The hard part is over and now the fun, amazing, rewarding part of watching him hear and talk is beginning!! He is doing amazing!!!

He is activated next Wednesday!!!