Yesterday my mom had a cochlear implant placed. For those unfamiliar with the device or procedure, it is a way of converting sound to electronic impulses and transmitting these impulses directly into the cochlea of the inner ear.

She is still sort of sick today. Her jaw is painful, and she is now completely deaf in that ear. (She was pretty much deaf before the procedure, but with hearing aids she had some small amount of hearing.) Her equilibrium and balance are off. She gets dizzy easily. But she's improving.

These things are very expensive devices, and the surgery is pretty specialized. Medicare does pay for it, if severe sensorineural hearing loss is documented.

She hasn't heard much in years, and I'm hoping the payoff of improved hearing in at least one ear (after the device is "hooked up") is worth the pain and discomfort that goes with this surgery.

Hopefully she improves quickly and can return to some semblance of her normal life. I've got more than my fingers crossed...