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Author Topic: Imagery Suggestions Needed  (Read 4172 times)

Marilyn/Absentminded

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Imagery Suggestions Needed
« on: September 08, 2011, 07:52:02 pm »
As many of you know (some from personal experience) I have an unfortunate history with electronics/electrical stuff in general.  Watch batteries that last two days, light bulbs that need to be replaced monthly, dvd players that get their feelings hurt and refuse to work ever again, that sort of thing.  I'm pretty good at shielding emergency equipment and things like my computer, but for most things I have simply adjusted to rapid obsolescence.

Last summer I had a pacemaker installed and this past April it was upgraded to a high-end ICD (implantable cardiac defibrillator).  It has three leads - a pacemaker lead, a defibrillator lead, and a resynchronization lead.  I have a monitor that sits beside my bed and takes readings every night.  If the ICD starts cycling (which means it might fire in the near future) or starts acting weird in any way, the monitor  sends a report to the university hospital that installed it.

As far as I understand it, the ICD is never supposed to need a battery replacement or any kind of power maintenance.  Apparently it draws energy from a combination of its power cell and some kind of kinetic(?) energy supplied by my body.  Semi-annual checks to make sure the leads are still attached and haven't floated too far from their optimum positions and that's it.

I got a call from the university the other day.  They don't think I need to worry, but they have made me an appointment for October to have everything checked.  Apparently the monitor has been sending them reports which show an unusual power depletion.  One or more of the leads is drawing more energy than it is supposed to.  I'm not in danger of running out at this point but they don't like the anomaly.  

The defibrillator hasn't fired and may not for a long time but the pacer and resynchonizer are going constantly.  I need them.  I have had experience shielding equipment being used to save my life - the local hospital has learned to have a back-up handy for everything, not just the delicate stuff for which back-ups are general policy.

I have a standard visualization I use.  It involves a ... substance flowing from me and coating the equipment, a sort of insulator.  The problem is that I can't make that visualization work for something that is actually inside me, part of me.  It's easy for things I touch or that are connected to me from outside, but I can't force it to do for this.

I want to shield the ICD at least til my appointment.  Ideally I want a set-and-forget shield for permanent use.  If it turns out the ICD is faulty they will simply replace it and I am worrying for nothing but, as I said, I have a history.

Ideas?  Images?  It doesn't have to be poetic or profound.  I don't mind cartoony stuff.  I just am drawing a blank - the closest I've been able to come is the kind of balloon I've read about drug mules using to protect themselves against swallowed drugs, but that comes with a host of conceptual dissonances and long-term effects I don't want.

All suggestions welcome.

Absent
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

RandallS

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2011, 08:33:56 pm »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18642
I want to shield the ICD at least til my appointment.  Ideally I want a set-and-forget shield for permanent use.  If it turns out the ICD is faulty they will simply replace it and I am worrying for nothing but, as I said, I have a history.

Is this device implanted right under your skin or deeper? I guess my real question is can you feel it if you touch the area where it is implanted?
Randall
RetroRoleplaying [Blog]: Microlite74/75/78/81, BX Advanced, and Other Old School Tabletop RPGs
Microlite20: Lots of Rules Lite Tabletop RPGs -- Many Free

Aisling

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2011, 08:50:05 pm »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18642
Ideas?  Images?  It doesn't have to be poetic or profound.  I don't mind cartoony stuff.  I just am drawing a blank - the closest I've been able to come is the kind of balloon I've read about drug mules using to protect themselves against swallowed drugs, but that comes with a host of conceptual dissonances and long-term effects I don't want.

All suggestions welcome.

Absent


How about a wetsuit, complete with fins and a dive tank?  Or alternatively, a space suit?  They'd have less baggage than a drug ballon, but still retain that core concept of sheilding something from its surrounding environment.

"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." -
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2011, 09:30:44 pm »
Quote from: RandallS;18659
Is this device implanted right under your skin or deeper? I guess my real question is can you feel it if you touch the area where it is implanted?


Very shallowly, in a pocket they made just under the skin.  I can feel the overall shape and at the top I can feel where the wires connect.  I can also visualize it completely - the education you get before they put it in includes pictures and schematics.

Absent
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2011, 09:32:54 pm »
Quote from: Aisling;18664
How about a wetsuit, complete with fins and a dive tank?  Or alternatively, a space suit?  They'd have less baggage than a drug ballon, but still retain that core concept of sheilding something from its surrounding environment.


Oh I like that.  A little tiny wetsuit around the device itself blocking out whatever it is in me that drains electricity.

I was trying to visualize tar or teflon tape around plumbing parts, but the tar was squicking me out and the tape kept fraying at the connections.  Do you know how wet suits are fastened?

Absent
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

Jubes

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2011, 09:40:34 pm »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18642
As many of you know (some from personal experience) I have an unfortunate history with electronics/electrical stuff in general.  Watch batteries that last two days, light bulbs that need to be replaced monthly, dvd players that get their feelings hurt and refuse to work ever again, that sort of thing.  I'm pretty good at shielding emergency equipment and things like my computer, but for most things I have simply adjusted to rapid obsolescence.


Absent

 
*raises hand*

I know all about it!!! First  of all stop telling the  DVD  player's off!!!
I like the wet  suit  idea too that  sounds like it  will work, here  is a link  to a site  about how  wet  suits are made  might help with the  visual!
http://www.trails.com/facts_12291_how-wetsuits-made.html
Armed with  common sense and worldly ways.......

Etheric1

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2011, 09:59:11 pm »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18642
As many of you know (some from personal experience) I have an unfortunate history with electronics/electrical stuff in general.  Watch batteries that last two days, light bulbs that need to be replaced monthly, dvd players that get their feelings hurt and refuse to work ever again, that sort of thing.  I'm pretty good at shielding emergency equipment and things like my computer, but for most things I have simply adjusted to rapid obsolescence.

Last summer I had a pacemaker installed and this past April it was upgraded to a high-end ICD (implantable cardiac defibrillator).  It has three leads - a pacemaker lead, a defibrillator lead, and a resynchronization lead.  I have a monitor that sits beside my bed and takes readings every night.  If the ICD starts cycling (which means it might fire in the near future) or starts acting weird in any way, the monitor  sends a report to the university hospital that installed it.

As far as I understand it, the ICD is never supposed to need a battery replacement or any kind of power maintenance.  Apparently it draws energy from a combination of its power cell and some kind of kinetic(?) energy supplied by my body.  Semi-annual checks to make sure the leads are still attached and haven't floated too far from their optimum positions and that's it.

I got a call from the university the other day.  They don't think I need to worry, but they have made me an appointment for October to have everything checked.  Apparently the monitor has been sending them reports which show an unusual power depletion.  One or more of the leads is drawing more energy than it is supposed to.  I'm not in danger of running out at this point but they don't like the anomaly.  

The defibrillator hasn't fired and may not for a long time but the pacer and resynchonizer are going constantly.  I need them.  I have had experience shielding equipment being used to save my life - the local hospital has learned to have a back-up handy for everything, not just the delicate stuff for which back-ups are general policy.

I have a standard visualization I use.  It involves a ... substance flowing from me and coating the equipment, a sort of insulator.  The problem is that I can't make that visualization work for something that is actually inside me, part of me.  It's easy for things I touch or that are connected to me from outside, but I can't force it to do for this.

I want to shield the ICD at least til my appointment.  Ideally I want a set-and-forget shield for permanent use.  If it turns out the ICD is faulty they will simply replace it and I am worrying for nothing but, as I said, I have a history.

Ideas?  Images?  It doesn't have to be poetic or profound.  I don't mind cartoony stuff.  I just am drawing a blank - the closest I've been able to come is the kind of balloon I've read about drug mules using to protect themselves against swallowed drugs, but that comes with a host of conceptual dissonances and long-term effects I don't want.

All suggestions welcome.

Absent

 
This might be a bit off from what you are looking for, but have you tried having a grounding stone with you?  I have a hematite ring that is for grounding and that might help ground out some of your excess energy...

Just a thought...
No matter how dark the fur, the bunny is still fluffy. - Mel\'s Law of Dark Fluffs.
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Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2011, 10:10:22 pm »
Quote from: Jubes;18673

http://www.trails.com/facts_12291_how-wetsuits-made.html


Thanks.  That should help.  I've been looking up space suits too.  The ones from fiction seem a lot more flexible than the real ones but I don't think any of them have the second-skin quality of a wet suit.

Absent
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2011, 10:13:24 pm »
Quote from: Etheric1;18676
This might be a bit off from what you are looking for, but have you tried having a grounding stone with you?  I have a hematite ring that is for grounding and that might help ground out some of your excess energy...

Just a thought...

 
I did consider an external anchor but the problem is I wouldn't be able to have it with me during surgery, and I'm very bad at keeping something on me at all times.  I might be able to anchor it to my ring, though - I haven't had it off since the day I got it, umpty-mumble years ago.

Not hematite, though.  I'm one of the people hematite shatters for.  It's too bad because I love the feeling of it.

Absent
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

Erinnightwalker

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2011, 10:15:31 pm »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18642


All suggestions welcome.

Absent

 
I'm not so bad with the electrical death, but I can drain batteries. Can't wear a digital watch cause I mess the programming up. My dad's the same way. Also, I'm having visions of the movie Crank 2. (You aren't Jason Statham, are you? O.o?!)

As for imagery, what about secreting a protective coating, like an oyster covering a grain of sand? The coating protects the electrical bits and can be continuously added to, naturally strengthening it over time. Since its something you want to keep anyway, it would hopefully smooth out potential problems so you can live with them, too. I guess you could tie it into an external pearl, too, for added strength.
The Nightwalking Hedgehog
I make ceramic art and am currently taking commissions. Have dream altar ware you\'ve always wanted, or a statue for a deity or spirit that you could never find? PM or email me and I\'ll see what I can do ;)

Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2011, 10:57:43 pm »
Quote from: Erinnightwalker;18679



I like the oyster idea.  I've always been impressed by the way they take a mundane irritant and turn it into something beautiful.  I don't think I want to anchor the shield to anything external, though.  I'm too careless with things.

Crank 2, eh?  I think I've been in the room when my husband has watched Crank (I don't pay attention to movies much) but I don't know if he knows there's a second one.

Absent
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #11 on: September 08, 2011, 10:59:54 pm »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18682

Oh - are pearls porous at all?  I don't want to drain the power cell but signal does have to get out or the whole thing's useless.

Absent
« Last Edit: September 08, 2011, 11:00:48 pm by Marilyn/Absentminded »
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

Erinnightwalker

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #12 on: September 08, 2011, 11:14:08 pm »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18682
I like the oyster idea.  I've always been impressed by the way they take a mundane irritant and turn it into something beautiful.  I don't think I want to anchor the shield to anything external, though.  I'm too careless with things.

Crank 2, eh?  I think I've been in the room when my husband has watched Crank (I don't pay attention to movies much) but I don't know if he knows there's a second one.

Absent

 
Supposedly they're making a third one. The second one's good though ^_^

Not sure if pearls are porous, but maybe if you gave the substance the look of a pearl while keeping it permeable to waves? I'm pretty sure that pearl-stuff won't conduct electricity, but I'm not sure if waves would go through. Don't see why they wouldn't, but I have no solid proof.
The Nightwalking Hedgehog
I make ceramic art and am currently taking commissions. Have dream altar ware you\'ve always wanted, or a statue for a deity or spirit that you could never find? PM or email me and I\'ll see what I can do ;)

RandallS

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #13 on: September 09, 2011, 08:36:50 am »
Quote from: Marilyn/Absentminded;18669
Very shallowly, in a pocket they made just under the skin.  I can feel the overall shape and at the top I can feel where the wires connect.  I can also visualize it completely - the education you get before they put it in includes pictures and schematics.

I'd probably shield it by touching "it" and letting shielding energy flow out of my hand and surround it. My personal problem would be the wires. Shielding them could be a problem as one would not want to shield them to the point they do not work -- that is they need to be not shielded where they connect to your heart nor should the shielding cut across the wires where it might interfere with the electricity when the device has to correct your heart rhythm. Normally, I'd say that this hole in the shield would not be a problem, but your ability to disrupt electronics seems higher than most.
Randall
RetroRoleplaying [Blog]: Microlite74/75/78/81, BX Advanced, and Other Old School Tabletop RPGs
Microlite20: Lots of Rules Lite Tabletop RPGs -- Many Free

Marilyn/Absentminded

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Re: Imagery Suggestions Needed
« Reply #14 on: September 09, 2011, 09:17:08 am »
Quote from: RandallS;18723



Yeah, that's been my main problem - coming up with a way for the wires to draw the power they need without being able to drain too much.  I can't shield it so tightly that nothing goes out, but I don't want too much to.

I'm toying with the idea of a wet suit with some kind of valve.  It sounds a bit over-complicated, but it needs to address the details properly for me.  If it doesn't work in my head it won't work at all.

Absent
I smile when I\'m angry.  I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do to get by
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right
And I die for the truth in my secret life

   In My Secret Life, L. Cohen

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