I have one. My suggestion is to ask the doctor what you can honestly expect from your surgery and what your benefits can be. As for the surgery I recovered pretty well. I had to spend the night but knew that going into it since that is my doctor’s preference. It was activated two weeks later and we have been adjusted peridocally ever since. What are your specific questions?

I have the VNS and I love it! Mine isn't programmed with the heart rate setting, so it just "fires" every five minutes or when I swipe the magnet. My seizures don't seem to increase my heart rate, so we chose not to turn on that option. Plus I am really out of shape....as in I can look at one flight of stairs and my heart will race, so it wouldn't be a benefit for me to have that option turned on! The only negative experience I have had is that when it is "on" and I am speaking over a phone, sometimes people have trouble understanding me because it makes my voice hoarse. If I know I will be speaking a while, I will hold or tape the magnet down to turn it off temporarily. And I've only had to do that once. It doesn't bother me at all, it feels weird for the first few weeks, but then I got used to it and don't even notice it much any more. Speaking face to face with people is just fine though, I haven't had a problem with that. Unless you are aspiring to be a professional singer or speaker, I would say it shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I went from having multiple partial seizures and auras on an almost daily basis to just a few mild auras a week now. I would say it has improved my seizures by at least 50%......and just the few months I have had it so far have been worth it!

@Amber420- the surgery is quick. The healing is quick. It can take time to get the settings right. The average amount of time is 2 years. It's not a cure. It's relief. It gives you control over seizures, but you are still having them. Just not as many.
It constricts the throat at the set interval. Sometimes I feel it , other times...not so much. When talking the voice gets really gravel like.
I get strange looks in the chapel while singing a hymn and my voice changes! I've learned it's time to not sing until it's over. When talking, I've had to "pardon me" and be quiet for half a minute or just talk through it. I could explain it. It's good conversation.
I cannot over stress this: you must have the magnet on you or near you. When it was not in the same room as me is when the seizures happened, I could not get to it fast enough.
Combined with a keto diet, Im grand mal seizure free for 6 months (I used to have one a week).
Not everyone has been so lucky.

@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member - why did doc not turn up the high heart rate setting so it doesn't "choke you" while jogging?
Doc also did not tell you you can turn it OFF if you are planning to do strenuous activity, or singing?
Hmmm.

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A MyEpile...

Not w everyone but w some people (including me) a side effect is if I jog or run it becomes hard for me to breathe. It feels like my throat is tightening up. My neurologist said that since the vegal nerve is right next to the vocal cords and throat that it is possible for the VNS to do that