The implant takes a ride.....

Chance has cousins visiting from out of state and so they joined us for a fun day at the zoo today. We watched birds sail overhead, and watched an elephant retrieve and put a hat on his head during the pachyderm show. The weather was just right for a day at the zoo and when the kids saw the carousel everyone wanted to have a turn riding on the zebras, elephants and roosters that were pumping up and down and whirling around in a circle.

Chance took a comfortable seat on a snow leopard next to his cousin. We were in a canyon, and a slight breeze blew....a perfect day to be riding a zoo animal. As "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" played on, Chance's cousin decided to tease Chance and reached over to knock the hat off of his head as they rode. The hat didn't come off, but the implant did. It fell and shattered across the wood platform of the carousel as the music played and the ride turned on. I think I gasped. My sister-in-law said,"I am sorry!"

The operator of the ride who had no idea what he was giving to me, handed me the battery pack part of the implant which had bounced off the wood platform and landed on the ground near his feet. He must have known it belonged to me as I had spontaneously started running along side the carousel when the implant fell off, while Chance held up his arms in a gesture of,"I don't know where it went."

The other part of the implant lay on the wood platform going around and around with everyone else on the ride.

Part of me wanted to shout,"STOP THE RIDE! AN $8000.00 DEVICE IS SITTING ON YOUR PLATFORM AND I HAVE TO GET IT OFF!!!" (wouldn't that have caused a stir as parents and children alike clamored for the opportunity to grow $8000.00 richer)

Instead, I sat mesmerized watching the implant go around and around willing it to stay where it was and not slide down into the nether reaches of the undercarriage of the carousel.

A third thought going through my head was, "insurance is going to cover this right?" I even started writing the letter in my head...........

"Dear insurance people,

My son Chance needs a new implant since half of his old one is under the carousel at the zoo. Thank you for being so understanding and sending us a new one ASAP.

P.S. If you replace this implant as soon as possible so that my son can continue to hear, I will tell everyone I know how great you people are. And frankly, you people in the insurance industry could use some good PR right now. "

When the carousel stopped, the last I had seen of the implant was it sitting on the wooden platform, but it was out of my line of sight at that moment. I was just getting ready to push my way into the throngs of people getting off the carousel when Chance suddenly appeared at my side and took the battery pack out of my hand. Without a care in the world, he put the two parts of the implant back together and smiled to me as he flipped it on and bounced off to join his cousin.

I didn't technically do any extended cardio exercise today, but I think my heart beat hard enough when the implant crashed to the platform and was whirling around and around to qualify as my heart workout for today.