Surgery

Well, I survived my first surgery! Everything went smoothly, and I am home having a pain-free recovery (knock on wood). The surgeon is confident she removed all of the cholesteatoma, though it meant removing one of my hearing bones. I am hearing about the same though. We praise God that the c-toma was not around my facial nerve at all, which would have eventually led to facial paralysis.

In about 9 months, we will check if the c-toma grew back at all, and if so, we'll start from square 1 again. If NOT, then a prosthetic hearing bone will replace my lost hearing bone, and much of hearing should be restored, and this problem will be put behind us.

Surgery is no fun, that's for sure, especially ear surgery. Your equilibrium gets a little messed up, making everything seem tilted. I wrestled with a little bit of nausea upon standing and walking at first, but now I am doing pretty good. I also experienced a metallic taste with everything I ate, but it has subsided.

Anyway, so I am doing pretty good now. My head bandage is off, and I expect to be as good as new in a few days!

The surgery lasted 3.5 hours, and I was under general anaesthesia, of course. Actually, though, I was given laughing gas as soon as I entered the surgical room. I don't think this is the norm, but I was so worked up with nerves, and I needed to be calmed down. I was in a deep sleep from about 2:30 until I woke up around 8pm. But it really did turn out just fine, and I am feeling good.