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Hearing loss and operations under general anaesthetic

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@Cal_C They do, but then they assume you’re just a “little bit” deaf rather than “I literally cannot hear anything you say unless you yell at me while facing me” :joy:

In reply to @Tee

This will also be the first time I’ve had a general anaesthetic as previous ones were done via local / sedation so I got to keep my ears in. I think this is really me overthinking it a bit and just being generally nervous as I’m never without them in high stress situations.

In reply to @Tee

@Tee said:

I mean, I won’t be the only Deaf person who they’ve done an op on, so there must be some process. fingers crossed

Tee, I’ve walked in your shoes at least a dozen times now - so I TOTALLY empathize with your situation and concern. From my own experience, I can only say that it depends on what the procedure is, who is doing it and what the protocols are at that facility.

My is about like yours, and so the first thing I tell folks is that after the aids come out, there is NO MORE conversation at all. I don’t read lips, so unless they use a note pad, there won’t be any way to communicate with me.

I’ve had procedures done where my personal belongings (ID cards, clothes, shoes AND aids) are on a shelf right under me on the gurney. I’ve also had procedures where my aids were left IN, but turned OFF until I was brought out of the Twilight Zone. And I’ve had surgeries where there were NO aids in as I was put under, but somehow the attending nurse managed to put them IN as I was brought out of anesthesia. I’ve never had an aid lost or misplaced, so that gives me faith to just lean in and let it happen.

If you wear aids that go behind the ear with speaker IN the ear, it’d be best to remove them cuz you don’t want them falling out (more likely than a custom-mold or ITE model). Yes, I’m guessing that your surgical team has operated on at least ONE other person who needed aids, but believe me, we are fewer are more far between than you’d think! MANY MANY folks at hospitals have no clue about what life is like for one who relies on aids. They’ll sit facing a computer screen with a mask on and ask you a million pre-op questions. Or they’ll flat out say they can’t help put the aids back in. Or they’ll SWEAR you’ll hear just fine without your aids cuz you aren’t having any trouble communicating with them IN - seriously, that’s my most common scenario.

Hope you come up with a workable solution and can focus on the procedure and your recovery. Keep us posted and GOOD LUCK to you!

I’ve had several surgeries under general. I’ve worn my aids with them on for all of them. I may have turned the volume down on some to avoid feedback. I always ask the anesthesiologist and the surgeon beforehand to get their ok, and they have always given it.

Hiya…
Don’t know if you had your surgery yet or not but I’ll post for future readers too.
I’ve had a few general anathesia surgerys over the years. I’m profoundly deaf with aids (and since birth- CRS).
The first one I recall was an emergency surgery some 30+ years agi, Before they rolled me off to the operating room from the ER, my hearing aids and glasses were given to my dad or aunt. When I was waiting on the gurney to OR, someone came up to me and asked me something, I’m like whut? No aids and no glasses (my sight is middling without them but can’t really lipread), bit of a back and forth. I don’t remember if my dad came and gave me my glasses or put them on (I was bitten by a dog on both arms so couldn’t exactly move them…), Finally they just shoved a form that I was supposed to sign in front of my face. That was fun- barely signed it.
I got both back when I was moved to a room; dad had stayed (I think my mother was working- 3rd shift).
Next another emergency- I can’t remember at all what happened but I do remember going into surgery without the aids and glasses. Guess they went into a bag that found its way to the room.
Next- had strabismus surgery (at the age of 29!), This one they let me keep one aid in. Unfortunately after I was knocked out it must have squeaked/squealed some someone took the aid off and put in in the front pocket of the hosptial/surgery gown. I don’t know how long it took them to figure out how to turn the thing off!
Most recent was a routine planned surgery, The aids and glasses were left back in the room and if I remember we got everything verbal wise(questions, verification stuff, and what will happen etc) out of the way before I was wheeled off.
I think that’s all surgery/operation wise except the lens implants- those I was awake for (hated it but love my implants- 30 years!)

Sorry this got long but maybe this will help others either easing their minds or just informative or…“What now?”

I had cataract surgery on both eyes in one session (local anaesthetic) and the surgeon told me that I should take my aids out as they could get damaged with all the liquids and stuff they do to keep everything sterile otherwise. The deal was that after the first eye, I would decide whether he went on and did the second eye straight away. I said that he would need to shout at me as I couldn’t hear much without them. He grinned and said that was ok as he needed the exercise!

When the time came he put his mouth quite near my ear and spoke loudly. I could hear him easily and it was all fine. He went ahead with the second eye. I had them in my pocket when they weren’t in my ears.

In reply to @Tee

Haha least it’s a compliment that they couldn’t tell how deaf you was as I imagine you have good speech, I’m the same, people have no idea I have hearing issues because I don’t tell them and they excepted a deaf accent after I tell them I’m not being rude if I don’t quiet catch what they are saying, which I don’t have a deaf accent.

@Sash88uk it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, I find. On one hand I feel like a vampire day walker, able to move amongst the hearing undetected, on the other, I wish it was more obvious sometimes as maybe I’d get better accessibility. :person_shrugging:

In reply to @DeafDucky

@DeafDucky no surgery yet, and probably not for a few months given the wait lists here. But I’ll hopefully get to meet the team fairly soon to plan. Thank you for all of this, it’s extremely helpful info. I have a massive list of questions for them now. :smile:

Finally, an update.

Had my op on the 7th April and I’ll be honest, I have no idea what they did with my hearing aids :joy: I went into the theatre with them in and gave them my little box in case they took them out, and woke up in the recovery room with them in and on. So… I guess I had nothing to worry about.

The recovery on the ward was the “bad” part as it seemed like even though I’d had all the back and forth with pre-op, the ward people were clueless about my deafness. Lots of confusion when they came to take my temperature and put the device in my ear :grimacing: For the most part people were good once I reminded them I needed to lipread, with a few who were really not good at all and that made things awkward at times. But they did in the end put a sign up over my bed to remind people (not sure it got noticed though). Overall the op went fine, recovery is slower than I hoped but I’m at home and happy enough. Apart from one hearing aid going walkabout for a few minutes and my spares getting chucked on the floor somehow, it was okay.

Glad your operation went well. I hope that the people who were caring for you afterwards learned something about how to support someone with hearing loss! Then maybe the next person they encounter will have a more supportive experience!

“Apart from one hearing aid going walkabout for a few minutes and my spares getting chucked on the floor somehow, it was okay.” Whew!

Reading all these posts about being hard of hearing or deaf going through surgery has been fun. The staff at hospitals can sure make a difference.

My experience being bilateral is I am deaf without the processors. Over the past 9 months I have had 6 procedures due to Barrett’s esophagus from years of acid reflux. The Barrett’s was pre-cancerous so an ablation procedure was used to remove the Barrett’s from the esophagus.

Anyway, the hospital staff have been great about my processors and deafness without them. It has created some funny situations that took the staff a minute or two to finally catch on that I can’t hear without the processors. A smile from me usually gets everyone smiling too. Most are very curious about CI.

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