Thursday, December 1, 2011

Learning to use a new implant

It's been 5 months since my second implant.

For a long time it's been completely healed physically.  It took much less time to heal than the last, and has been completely unobtrusive except for long finger stretches while playing guitar, and even then it's easy to adjust to a comfortable position.

The new implant is still significantly less sensitive than the older implant in my right hand, but is slowly growing more sensitive.  I'm using my old implant to train the new.  I'll feel a significant field with my right implant, then put the left in the same place.  It's still consistently less responsive than the old one, but becoming more responsive as time goes by.  At this point, the contrast is enormous.  For example, I can feel industrial battery chargers from a foot or two away with my right hand.  I put my left hand in the same place and feel only a very dim sensation.

I've also noticed that the orientation of the magnets makes a tremendous difference.  I'll find a very active field (a microwave oven for example) with my right hand and then put my new left-handed implant in the same place.  I'm surprised to feel nothing!  After rotating around a bit and playing with distance, I can find a similar intensity, but in a completely different finger orientation, in a different location.

Regardless, it's still an incredible ability.  I've experienced no negative side effects or limitations, aside from worrying about an MRI, and still think this is one of the most incredible and noteworthy things I've done in my lifetime.