AMORNTHEP GET'S SECOND COCHLEAR

On Wednesday, 7/27/2011, Amornthep received surgery for his cochlear implant on his left side. He has been waiting for this for so long and everyday he runs to the calendar to count the days. Ironically, the day before his surgery, our new van got a flat tire and Phil planned to change it the next day while I was at the hospital and he was home with the kids.

Wednesday morning Amornthep and I got in the Honda Civic and halfway down the road I sensed something was not right. Sure enough, the Civic also had a flat tire. I lugged it back home and was able to find a sister in our Ward that has the proper stickers on her car to get us on base for his surgery. We were only 15 minutes late and he got right in. He did great, except he did vomit as they were getting him in the wheelchair to release him. But, that is to be expected. Anytime you do surgery on the eyes, ears and abdomen, nausea is very high after surgery. He was sure groggy the rest of the day, but Thursday and today he is the same happy, kind, jumpy, overactive little boy he always is. Every now and then he grabs his ear to say it hurts as the bandages were removed the day after surgery, but it dissipates quickly and he goes off to play; one brave little tyke.

Seattle Children’s Hospital will turn his left cochlear on in about a month, which is standard healing time from the surgery. He is beyond excited and now is counting the days on the calendar until we go to Seattle for his left side to get “turned on.” He is doing amazing with his cochlear. I remember the horrible fight I had with Seattle Children’s Hospital just to convince them to implant him with the first cochlear. A few months after his first surgery, I had to go to battle again to convince him that he needs to get his left side implanted. They pushed back because they felt he was too old to be implanted. For the second implant, they pushed back because they wanted to wait a year to see how well he was doing with the first. I told them all the studies and experts we’ve spoken to say having dual cochlear implants is better than one side being implanted. And, if one ear is implanted too long before the second is implanted, you risk ear dominance. Ultimately, in the end what finally convinced them is the fact that he is doing above and beyond where they thought he would be. I originally told them I know my son and that he will go beyond their expectations, which he has proven in spades. We’re so proud of him!