Proof of Life

Eric Butow

Eric Butow

— 2 min read
Share
Eric Butow looking at the camera in his home office.
Eric Butow with electrodes underneath those bumps in his home office.

I've been running pretty hard since I had my head stitches removed in mid-May. In the past two months, I've written four custom Dummies books for the following clients: 

  • Cloudera
  • SailPoint
  • Wiz.io
  • Cyera

I'm waiting for feedback about the last two books on that list, and now there's another custom Dummies book starting up next week. On top of that, I submitted a proposal that should be the last step in securing a contract for what will be a career-defining book for me. And all this doesn't include another book proposal with Entrepreneur Press that's in the acquisitions stage.

All this work has come at a good time because I need to focus on projects instead of the pain in my body. Recovery from the deep-brain stimulation has been slow and sporadic. I had my second follow-up appointment with my neurosurgeon and Medtronic rep on July 10, and they added a new frequency setting to the deep-brain stimulation app.

For the first four weeks of therapy, I could only change the amplitude – how strong the electromagnetic pulses are to numb the rest of my body from 0 to 1 in increments of 0.1. Now I can increase the frequency of the pulses from 130 Hz to 200 Hz, and I'm having 200 Hz therapy at 0.1 amplitude for about 10 minutes a day, though on many days I keep the therapy on a little longer because I forget about it when my attention is elsewhere. 

The pain with the higher frequency, especially in my head around the surgery sites, hasn't abated. Neither has the swelling, as you can see in the photo, and I don't think it will subside. My third follow-up appointment is scheduled on August 21, and I expect to have at least two more follow-ups. I don't expect to know if the neurostimulation is working until my birthday in November.

Physical activity helps somewhat, and I still take daily walks in my somewhat hilly neighborhood. Now that I have a break, I'm going to finish cleaning my office and also clean out old medications from my bathroom. I also purchased bags from Trashie to recycle my old clothing, and I'll share my experiences after I send the first bags back.

For now, I hope you're staying cool and hydrated wherever you are, and have a prosperous rest of your July!

Read more