Reaction from New level

My incision area started to hurt yesterday, as did the area that the lead attaches to the Vagus Nerve. The sensation lasted about half an hour and then a head ache on that side of the head. The next stimulation period the same pain, but much less, with no headache. But I am up again. More motivated to paint, sculpt, and to move about, as in yard work.
The hospital has not billed me yet and it has been since Feb. 26th. I did contact them and apparently they are resubmitting it to the insurance company and that takes about a month to six weeks to do.
Meanwhile I notice that I can think around problems better. I can see them as less threatening. I can move off the ruminating thoughts and on to other, more creative ones. I believe that it has helped in my OCD. I am not locked into certain behaviors as much.

nicktimeflyer.com

cafepress.com/bubbledreams

thesilhouetteshop.yolasite.com

It's done!

We rode north 50 miles in the relatively traffic free pre-dawn hours of the 26th of Feb.
It only took an hour and the weather was great.
They put me under general anesthesia and I slept on whilest they cut me. I woke up in the recovery room with David right beside me.
Soreness in the upper left chest, a sore throat, real pain when I was lifting myself out of a sitting position. Slept most of the day, and woke up every two hours throughout the night.
the implant of the device was right under the collar bone and the wire that connects the device to the Vagus nerve snakes up the left side of my neck and wraps itself around the nerve about half way up the neck.
The nerve will be stimulated for a few seconds then off for some time. But that can vary, as the doctor adjusts the implant to meet my needs.
At last it is done, now on with the rest of the drama.

nicktimeflyer.com

cafepress.com/bubbledreams

thesilhouetteshop.yolasite.com

Now the Battle Starts

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.

nicktimeflyer.com

cafepress.com/bubbledreams

thesilhouetteshop.yolasite.com