Friday, August 19, 2011

Cochlear Implant

After a long 5 hours, Dallas came out of surgery and is now recovering.  He is being admitted to the hospital for observation due to a couple of complications from the surgery.  He had some brain fluid leakage which has been stopped, but needs to be watched.  He also has some more significant airway swelling which he has been treated for, but once the medication wears off, they need to be sure the swelling does not return.
And now for the good news, the surgeon was able to implant 24 of the 28 electrodes.  This is encouraging and very good news.  Dr. Rimell said he thought about giving up a few times as this was one of the most difficult cases he has had.  We gave him a heartfelt “Thank You,” and off he went.  He had also looked at his airway for potential reasons as to why his swallow has not improved, and other than simply blaming CHARGE syndrome; he didn’t see anything else “fixable.” 
Overall, I’d say we are feeling very optimistic about the surgery results and just hope Dallas has a speedy and relatively painless recovery.
The implant will be activated on September 12th, and this is the day he will truly hear our voices for the first time.  We will anticipate that, once this recovery is behind us.
Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes today.

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