Just a reminder – my typical weeks are why we need to protect Medicaid and make sure we have access to good, affordable healthcare!
Speech therapy on Tuesday. Communication device fell off my chair but fortunately seems to be working just fine. My speech therapist made some brilliant changes so that I can’t accidentally hit the speak bar when selecting a word-prediction choice. And, I can more easily program my own buttons now on my Quick Stuff page. Watch out world!
Also, got my thigh strap contraption repaired while I was speech appointing. It broke last week.
Appointment with my complex movement team doctors on Thursday. Trying some new Deep Brain Stimulation settings. 4.5 volts seemed to be too high and ended up making my movement even weirder so went back to 4.0 volts. In a couple weeks, dad will sneakily without my knowing switch to a 3rd new setting that turns on 2 different leads that are deep in my brain. One of the coolest things, was that my neurologist did a “software update” on my stimulator implanted in my chest and now the stimulator should last for another decade before having to be replaced. We had thought that it would need replacement after 7 years which would have been in about another 4 years. The fewer surgeries the better since I have had issues with staph infections. The grand experiment of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) continues.
Friday night was Dead Pool 2 night while charging my DBS. It takes about 1-2 movies a week to charge my DBS.
Upcoming surgery on November 9th to remove my lower braces – and an out-of-whack lower tooth. YAY!!!!!!!
Had an awesome end of the week when I went door-knocking for Ami Wazlawik who is running for MN State House Representative for 38B. She’s awesome! Made my dad come along and help out this time!
(P.S. I’m actually at my pre-op physical when this is being posted on my blog. The magic of scheduling blog posts on WordPress!)
Justin Smith Writes 
Justin! I love reading your blog! (Just thought you ought to know…) I’m subscribed via Feedly, so I get updates pretty quickly. Some questions, though…. Why does DBS recharging have to be movie night? Or is that just the way you prefer to hang out when recharging happens? What does recharging entail? Do you have to disconnect? And do you notice a difference if/when you do?
Hope all is progressing well, and I’m glad we agree politically! Hope to see you soon!
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To recharge, I put a strap around me that has a recharger that needs to be right on top of my implanted device. I need to sit relatively still while charging, so it doesn’t work to be at my computer typing or anything. Just works best to watch some movies and either my mom or dad have to be there to keep checking to make sure that my battery is getting a full charge. I’ll post a picture in my next blog post.
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