Third Time Must Be the Charm

We are home from the hospital without cochlear implants.

Ryan was initially scheduled for Cochlear Implant Surgery on March 4th.  Due to some miscommunication, this date changed to yesterday, March 15th.

Her pre-op appointment went really well on Thursday.  We told the nurse and then the Nurse Practioner that Ryan had been getting over her cough she had had.  The Nurse Practioner did a basic check-up, including height, weight, eye check & ear check.  She told us to be at the hospital on Friday morning at 6:30am for a surgery time of 7:45am.

So, like any crazy parents, we woke Ryan up early on Friday morning (1:45am) for her last bottle until after surgery.  Then we were up at 4:45 and out the door on our way to the hospital by 5:40am.  We were checked-in and back in the waiting area by 6:35am.  Ryan was getting all her attention by the medical assistants and nurses to ensure we were all set for her bilateral CIs.  About 7:30, our surgeon, Dr. Robert O'Reilly came by, said hello, and gave us some expectations on what to expect coming out of surgery.

After some silly gas, the anesthiologist took her from us and we parted ways.  They escorted Sean and I back to the parent waiting area, where we were prepared to potentially wait for 6 hours for our girl to be return.  It was 8am when we sat down.

We were updated at about 8:45am, that surgery had finally begun, and that Ryan had been a hard 'stick'.  I found out later that they poked her little veins 7 times before they got a good one.  (Glad she was asleep for all of that.)

At 9:05am, our two surgeons came walking towards us.  And, of course, the first thought that goes through your head is holy $hit.  The first words that came out of their mouths was, 'Ryan is fine, she's doing well.'  They went on to explain that Ryan had an inner ear infection, and they only caught this after she had her first incision.  They cancelled the surgery, and put tubes in her ears instead.

To say the least we are very disappointed.  We know that everything happens for a reason, but knowing that she would have been implanted at 7 months would have been such a blessing.  We have a follow up with our surgeon next week, and most likely they will reschedule the surgery for 8 weeks from now.

Let's hope that the 3rd time really is the charm.