Batteries are a must.

I don't often have to change the batteries in my stimulator's controller.  The display is supposed to warn me when the batteries are getting close to the end of their lives.  Well, last night it did not warn me.  This is when the importance of keeping backup AAA batteries hit me.

It's been a crazy week.  I've been overloaded at work because a coworker is on vacation.  My birthday was last Friday so we went out to a winery Saturday to celebrate.  Sunday my sister and I went on a little road trip so she could set up a big surprise for my parents.  It's been insane and I've been spending more time on my leg as a result.  So let me fill you in a bit here.

I'm still getting the hang on figuring out which SCS programs to use at any given time.  I have figured out the most comfortable setting for when I'm trying to sleep, and I vary my work settings a little bit depending on how I'm feeling.  However, when it comes to standing for long periods of time I still don't have it all figured out.

On Saturday my husband brought me to a cute little diner and to the winery that makes my favorite wine.  We arrived and walked around the gift shop for a few minutes.  Eventually one of the employees showed up in the tasting room and we paid to do a round of samples.  It was supposed to be 6 samples but the guy was feeling generous and gave us 10-12.  The whole time we were standing.  When we arrived I set the SCS to a program I thought would be sufficient.  It wasn't.  By the time we got home my ankle was throbbing, but I made the best of it.  We had a blast so it was well worth it to me.

On Sunday my sister and I drove about 2 hours from home.  We walked about a half mile setting this Scavenger Hunt/Picnic thing up.  After our parents arrived they decided they wanted to do some of the activities in the area, so that meant more walking.  I adjusted the SCS a few times throughout the day.  Again I was in a lot of pain by the time we got home.

Monday I went to work, came home, and made dinner.  I must have adjusted my SCS at least 5 times in the process of making dinner.  Not once did the remote tell me the batteries were getting low.  Then all of a sudden I tried to turn my SCS down, since it was at a very high level, and the controller turned on, only to immediately shut back down.

I was freaking out.  I wasn't entirely sure it was the batteries.  There were no AAAs to be found anywhere in the apartment.  It was too late to make a trip to the store for new batteries so I grabbed my "emergency shutoff switch" and turned it completely off.  I could not sleep last night!  Of course the first thing I did this morning was get some more batteries, and sure enough, that was the issue. 

What did I learn from this?  Probably nothing, but I'm going to try really hard to keep spare AAAs on hand at all times now.