When I first got that magnet from NeuroPace to use with my RNS device during this “read-only” phase, it seemed like the best way to have it accessible whenever I’m having a seizure would be to attach the carabiner to the belt loop of my jeans. Open the carabiner, pull it off while still looped in the hole of the magnet, swipe it over my head, put it back on the belt loop, repeat as necessary. The biggest downside?
Finding out all the different things in the house that are magnetic.
Some aren’t surprising: the washing machine and dryer, the refrigerator, the hood of the car, the lamp on my bedside table… get my belt loop a little too close and there’s a loud CLINK! to remind me.
Then earlier tonight, I decided to switch the carabiner from the belt loop in the front of my jeans to the one on my right hip. (It’s easier to grab it if I’m seated plus it doesn’t get attached to the button on the front of my jeans when I’m sitting on the toilet.) The large CLANK! that spooked Teresa on a different floor of the house is how I discovered that the door to our garage has a metal core.
As for the title of this blog post, well, it’s a lie. Washing my hands in the kitchen sink earns me the aforementioned clink as well. I suppose I should be grateful: if the staples in my head were made of a different kind of metal, swiping the magnet could lead to a number of new dents in my head to go along with my surgical scars.