Primrose gets her cochlear implants

Those who have read my preschool primrose blog may remember how much she loved it. She hated it as soon as she saw the blog. Nadine was called each time Primrose needed to go home early.

There was a way out!

We went from three hours per day, twice weekly, to one and a half hours each day, four times a week. The change was immediate, and we are now working towards returning to our normal schedule. Result!

Primrose has been through a lot. On top of this, it’s now been three days since she had surgery for the fitting of her internal cochlear implants. Primrose has not cried the night away for three nights. Nadine and I haven’t slept well in three days. We haven’t fought in the middle of the night for three days.

Three nights have passed since we waited at our daughter’s hospital bedside. Mum gives Primrose lots of cuddles in order to calm her down when she is upset, thirsty, and confused. The dad fidgets and smokes chain cigarettes to cope with the emotions that come from being in a high-dependency unit for babies.

Primrose spent the rest of this stage asleep. Primrose was largely under the spell of anesthesia and painkillers. It was to be expected that Primrose would vomit and have a few nosebleeds. We found out that there was nothing to be concerned about; it was just part of the healing process.

Many of you won’t have to stay overnight after surgery. Primrose suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Jervell-Nielsen, so she is kept in the hospital for observation.

The most likely procedure is to go in, have the surgery, recover, and then eat.

The easy part is over. Then comes a period where the time appears to be able to shrink and stretch. It is torture not to be able to explain to them what is happening, why they are in pain, and that it’s all normal.

We’ve heard that a teacher of the deaf is going to hand over the new technology next week. (Eeek!) Then, within a week, it’ll be time to turn the switch (double eek!) Just before Christmas! You know, if someone asked me what the best present for Christmas could be in the entire world, I would answer them without a doubt…