Finally an Update!

Hey all! Thanks for checking in again!

Yesterday Josh and I spent a good 8.5-9 hours at Mayo Clinic. I had 4 appointments I think so I'll just go through my day- bear (bare?) with me, I just may ramble!

We started off the day leaving home at 6:15am after very little sleep for the both of us! I had the MRI first- all is well in my head, my nerve are intact, the cochlea looks "healthy" so it's all still a go!

I had other appts. where I selected the brand and color of my implant and headpiece- I chose Advanced Bionics- Harmony. Drs. assured me that I could not go wrong in making the CI choice as they recommend all of them equally. The AB's (Advanced Bionics) do not come with a remote but you can change settings manually or have it be automatic. Pros and Cons to all brands. OH and the color- I picked the blackish "charcoal" color- it makes the color accents (Blue, orange, purple, maroon, red, etc.) stand out more and I like that! I can also get stickers made through a website so I can make the device as funky as I want! ....we'll see...

Next I had to NOT eat for awhile and then take a balance test- this was interesting to say the very least... I had to sit in a chair- get strapped in and wear goggles that blocked out all light and had a camera on my eyes. This was about 10 minutes long, the chair spun around (slowly-ish, and rocked a little back and forth- it was to measure my balance system (inner ear). This test showed "some damage to the left ear balance system" ...interesting
Then we went to another room with some minor computer glitches that ended up being resolved- easy test... wore crazy goggles and followed a little red light- what was the most interesting was the WATER TEST... yes they used water- I HAVE to share about this test. First the Aud. sprays hot water into one ear to "stimulate the inner ear" makes you VERY dizzy- and after the spraying is done you have to think outloud- so I counted backwards by 2's, came up with boys names in ABC order and girls names in ABC order as well as counting by 3s or something... anyway- I had to wear darkening goggles again and lay on a table, it was QUITE a sensation. When he sprayed my LEFT ear I didn't really feel dizzy at all, but when he sprayed my RIGHT ear I was CRAZY busy!
-The results of the test told me that I have 87% LESS balance function in my left ear than my right. Basically my whole balance system is reliant on my RIGHT ear. There is no telling when the damage to my balance system occurred but it makes sense that it happened from the meningitis. -I'm not a clutz, I have a damaged balance system!- :D

The last appt. was the "pre-operative" meeting with the Dr. doing the surgery. We talked about how it might be more risky to do the Right ear in the future due to the higher risk of balance issues (any disruptions may make me have a lot of balance issues) so we're sticking with the left ear for sure, and the right ear as a POSSIBILITY in the future but really only if the Left ear implant does not work like it should.

So to make a LONG blog even LONGER... Surgery is August 12th, unknown what time yet as I have to call the night before. Left ear only- Sweet colors.

OH and my "Switch on date" (the day I start actually using the device) is August 26 (and 27th!) so right in time for a good friend's wedding (and the start of the school year)! WOOT!

Thats the update- I like you! Have a good day!