This afternoon, I met Dr. Wayne Berryhill, my surgeon. Our appointment did not last long. He walked me through the procedure in a very general way, revealing nothing I’d not already read about. He said I won’t need to cut my hair; they probably won’t even have to shave any of it prior to surgery. The date of surgery is still not set, as some paperwork still has to be completed with Medicare. He wants to hear from my PCP, Dr. Ahmad, and my cardiologist, Dr. Salim, to be certain that there are no underlying health issues that might impede the surgery. He said I’d be under anesthesia for about an hour.
He said he’d order an MRI for me, but agreed to a CT scan when I shared with him my reluctance to undergo an MRI. He said the surgeries are scheduled “about 4 to 6 weeks out” – but later, his nurse said that the month of September is mostly “wide open,” while October may be problematic, due in part to the two-week vacation that he typically takes in that month. The surgery will be done at Community Hospital, located at SW 89th and I-44 west of Moore (actually in the city limits of OKC, but it’s easy access for us and not a long drive, about 30 minutes). The nurse gave me a map – and I later found the place on Google Maps. I’ll get a call from the hospital the day before surgery letting me know what time to arrive.
I really like Dr. Berryhill. He’s quite personable. When he checked my ears, I apologized for my “COVID hair” – and he showed me his own COVID hair! I checked his credentials on the company website. He earned his BS degree at O.U. in 1992 (same class as our son, Randy), graduated medical school at University of Minnesota in 1996, where he completed his residency in otolaryngology, followed by a fellowship in otology/neurotology in 2003 at the University of Michigan.
