Why I Decided To Become A Cyborg

Posted to Flickr on 07 March 2010.

It’s a funny photo, but it’s no joke. ;-)

Some of you may know that for almost a decade, on and off, I’ve been fighting severe chronic migraine headaches. I’ve tried many treatments to deal with them with varying degrees of success. However, they persist. The headaches negatively impact my quality of life, my work, and most importantly my family. So I’ve come to an important decision.

On Thursday, March 18 I’m having equipment surgically placed in my body that will greatly lessen my headaches. The device is a spinal cord stimulator (SCS), and it is designed to transmit electrical "white noise" to "mask" my pain. If you’re not familiar with SCS it may sound fantastic, but many people today have them and have found them beneficial, including a good friend of mine.

In fact, I have already "test driven" an SCS. A couple of weeks ago I had one temporarily placed on the outside as an out-patient procedure. The device worked. I was able to control my pain level without medication of any kind. So I have reasonable hope in the success of a permanent solution.

Once the SCS is in place, I will have an artificial device inside my body and will therefore be a "cyborg" using the definition "part human, part machine." However, I will not look like the photo above. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I leave to you to decide. ;-)

The doctors tell me recovery time varies but that I should expect to rest for a couple of weeks. I intend to stay active on Flickr during that time if possible. In the meantime I’m creating a backlog of photos that my wife Leslie has agreed to post on my behalf so that I can continue contributing on a daily basis to 7DOS and to my own Duel 365 series. Hopefully, it won’t take long for me to resume normal activities.

While this is a serious procedure with a certain set of risks, I have this positive perspective: my condition is not life-threatening, and I feel very fortunate that I have reasonable treatment options available. I also have supportive co-workers, friends, and family, which makes all the difference.

If you have questions about the procedure, feel free to send me a Flickr Mail or contact me through your favorite social network; I’m not hard to find. ;-)

March 19, 2010: See the update on my procedure.

April 5, 2010: See the update on my procedure.

April 19, 2010: See the update on my procedure.

Elsewhere

My cyborg self has been spotted poking his head out of these places as well:

Have you seen this photo somewhere else? Or are you using it yourself? I would love to hear from you! It's always fun to learn where my photos turn up.