JD Hancock Photos

Charge Of The Cyborg

As you may already know, I’m a cyborg. No, really! I’ve had medical equipment implanted in my body not once but twice to manage chronic migraine headaches.

The equipment, called a spinal cord stimulator, consists of electrical leads in the back of my neck, wires running down my spine, and the main unit in my lower back. All of the equipment is inside my body and not visible from the outside, but I do have an x-ray of the leads and wires.

Like any piece of electronics, in order to function the main unit in my lower back must stay charged. I recently received requests for a photo of the device I use to charge the main unit. So here it is!

The rectacular "brick" is a battery pack. Most of the time, it is plugged into the wall. When I’m ready to use it, I unplug the brick from the wall and attach the black cable and paddle shown. Then I place the paddle against the skin of my lower back and turn on the brick. Power runs from the brick, through the cable, and into the paddle, through my skin, and into the main unit under my skin. Lighted icons on the brick indicate if the brick has power, if the paddle is positioned properly, and when the unit is completely charged.

The charging process is not painful in any way, and I do it at a frequency of once a day to once a week, depending on how I’m using my implants.