Flipping the Switch

I saw the surgeon last week for my check-up. He poked at my incisions a bit, said everything looked ok, reminded me to wear this lovely collar for another week (and then the other one for two weeks) and said I don't have to see him again unless something goes wrong. I said I hope I don't ever have to see him again, he said no offense taken, and we parted ways. It took maybe five minutes, tops.

While it was good to hear that the wounds are healing properly, that wasn't really the part I was looking forward to. The reason that this visit was supposed to be exciting was because I was also meeting with the rep from the implant company and finally getting the thing turned on. Yea! This was what all this misery was for, right? Finally going to reap the rewards! (I tried not to get my hopes up, because, you know, that's a sure way to be disappointed. But I couldn't help it. They were up just a little.)

So... you know that "wah, wah, waaaaa!" sound you hear when something doesn't quite deliver the bang you're expecting? Yep. That was the sound I heard. I have to admit that it was a bit disappointing. But it was educational, and now I have a better understanding of how things are going to (and should) go, so that was good.

The rep that I met with this time was really nice (unlike the stupid blonde chick that did my trial implant. But that's a story for another time.) She showed me how everything works, and how to charge it, and all that good stuff. And she turned it on. (Insert "wah, wah, waaaaa!") It's not that it didn't go on or anything. It's just that this early after surgery, it isn't really going to do a lot. (Thanks again, stupid blonde chick. Way to not prepare me for any of this.)

It turns out that this soon after implantation, when everything is still so raw and fresh, you just can't turn it on high enough to actually do any real good. (You just barely give it any juice, and it WAY overstimulates the outer extremities before it can reach anything farther up.) So in another couple of weeks or so I'll go back and we'll play some more with the programming. Hopefully at that time I'll be healed enough that we'll actually be able to get somewhere.

Sigh. Waiting kind of sucks. I was all excited to finally feel a little bit of the rewards for all of this. But I have to keep reminding myself that it hasn't even been two weeks yet, so I just need to chill out. (Sigh again. I hate having to tell myself things I don't want to hear.) At least now I know that this is normal, and it's how it's supposed to go. So I have that, anyway.

Sigh.