I finally got in touch with the Cyberonics(the Vagus Nerve Stimulation) people this afternoon. I got the information to start the process. I need to get a form that is called an IVEA form. IVEA means Insurance Verification Educational Authorization. This form is provided to doctors to get the process started. Then the Cyberonics people will go to bat and deal with the insurance. The insurance will more than likely deny the payment for the implant, but they will take care of fighting the insurance company. It may take one or two years to get the implant. But I have had to take medications for fourteen years and probably will have to take them for the rest of my life. Perhaps getting this implant will stabilize the downward spiral that the depression has taken. I keep relating to it as an implant. It is a device much like a pacemaker and is used to stimulate the left vagus nerve that runs up the side of the neck. The powerhouse of the system is a disc about the size of a pacemaker and implanted in the chest in the same area. This disc holds the battery that supplies the electricity to stimulate the nerve. This nerve goes deep into the brain where the sites for pleasure and happiness are located. When stimulated it produces pleasure. To a person that can't even remember a happy event on their own, this is a miracle. On the average day I have a hard time remembering a pleasant feeling, when a medication fails, I can not even make myself think a happy thought. So now the process begins.
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