Modern medicine is amazing, but no zippers

My husband had a nerve stimulator placed in his back about six years ago. The battery in the stimulator he chose is not rechargeable, so the battery died. Today, he had surgery to replace the battery pack over the back side of his hip. The hope was that the doctor could just disconnect the battery pack from the leads going up his back near his spinal column and reconnect the new battery to those existing leads.

No such luck. The doctor had to open an incision in his back to remove the old leads and place the new ones, to which the new battery could connect. Joe asked the doctor to just put a zipper in his back to make a replacement of the battery and leads easier in six years when it needs to be done again. Dr. P thought that was a good idea, but his sewing skills must not be advanced enough for that because I do not see a zipper in his back.

Now we wait and hope that no infection develops. *Fingers crossed*