Hospital Day 3 - A day of blessings!

This morning, we awakened to a jackhammer sound in the hallway.  When I say "we," I mean the parents.  All the ABI-candidate kids slept soundly.  They didn't hear it.  I turned to one of the moms and said, "you know, there are benefits to being deaf."  She shook her head.  "These children have the right to hear.  If someone comes into our daughters' rooms in the night, they shoud know it. They have the right to know it." 

I have thought about that all day.  One of the reasons we chose ABI for Anna is the safety factor -- with a successful ABI surgery, Anna should at least be able to turn her head to sound.  That could be the difference between life and death.  Even so, I do recognize that, just as there are some things about hearing that the Deaf cannot and will not understand, there are some things about deafness that we, as hearing people, will never understand.  One of those things is a truly peaceful night's sleep!

This morning, our roomate's mom, Yvonne, arrived with a homecooked Chinese meal for her husband and little Bruce.  Much to our surprise and Anna's delight, Yvonne packed an extra meal for Anna.  She even brought a set of chopsticks for Anna.  Anna chowed down!  She is not impressed with the offerings at the hospital -- it's not the Olive Garden, folks.  What a blessing for Anna from people we just met.

We met with the anesthesiologist today.  He was very nice and took his time explaining what would be happening.  This doctor is the head anesthesiologist, and he will be coordinating anesthesia for all the ABI surgeries.  Anna will have two anesthesiologists in the operating room with her at all times, and another anesthesiologist will take care of her in the ICU when her surgery is complete.  He gave Anna a risk rating of "category 1" - the best rating, meaning she is a low-risk patient for anesthesia.  Anna is the only ABI patient next week who is in the lowest-risk category. 

Above, you will see what the internal portion of the implant looks like.  The doctors are still considering which side of Anna's brainstem to implant.  Usually, the doctors here implant the side of the dominant hand.  Anna is left-handed, so that would mean the surgery would be on the left portion of her brainstem.  They said the side of dominance is usually stronger, and also, later in life, using the same side as the dominant hand makes it easier for the patient to put on the device themself without help.  However, they will also look at the brain and ear anatomy and make a judgment.  Anna has an easily-visualized facial nerve on the right side.  On the left side, they can see the nerve, but it runs an aberrant course.  That means the doctors will carefully look at Anna's MRI and CT scans and try to make the decision that poses the lowest risk, but is likely to produce the best outcome.  I think they will tell us in the next day or two what they have chosen.

We also got a surprise blessing in the form of a microwave today.  Diva's mom let the hospital know how difficult it was for foreign parents to make food for ourselves and our children.  Diva must eat evry few hours, so they were having a hard time making food for her.  Today, a microwave appeared in the hallway for our use.  Also, Yvonne brought an electric tea kettle from her apartment.  Now, we're in business!  Hot water and a microwave.  You can live a long time on oatmeal and cup-o-soup.  More blessings.

We met with the business office today and got the final financial details about the surgery. They were very nice and told us they would allow us to wire funds from the United States since we have had trouble exchanging our money. We also learned that our English benefactor's funds had been applied toward Anna and that they would allow us to make payments over the next 18 months. The people here have shown such compassion toward us. We only had to sign one form saying that we promised to pay. That was it.

Several times today, we saw Dr. Carner in the hallway.  He is the doctor from yesterday who showed us the implant.  Each time we saw him, Anna walked up to him and pointed to her ear and pointed to him.  He kept saying, "she remembers!"  Of course she remembers!  And don't forget that she wants it in pink!

All day long, it snowed in Verona - big, wet, sloppy flakes.  All the patients were flocking to the windows to watch.  They tell us it snows here once or twice a year.  It's cold here, and as best I can tell, there is no heat in the hospital.  We are warm inside, though, with all the good things that have happened today.

With love from Italy,
Amy