Spinal cord stimulators

[sparkey]

wow 96,000 for a stimulator? That is amazing. I had that option, but right now i am trying the injection in my neck first to see if that helps. I have a Tens unit that works very well hooked up to my arm/shoulder. After a day full of pain , I take my meds, lay back and let it run for about a half hour. I could not live without it when the pain is so bad.

[Cervical_Fusion]

Hi guys I am home now. AQA my trail is as u described. It went great today. Got to hospital at 6 this morning. They took me into surgrey around 7:15, as I was the first surgrey of the day. The hospital had all the state of the art equiptment in it. Right down to the hospital gowns. which had a hose connected to the gown and had warm air blowing into it. Hooked to it like some type of vaccum cleaner. The surgrey took 2 hours. I was asleep the entire time, except to wake me and see if they had the leads placed properly. I can barely remember being awake for that short period. In the room was the Dr. and a Rep from Medtronics and I found she lives about 25 minutes from me, along with about 4 other people in the room. My back is all taped up and the stimulator is taped to my back with a battery pack attached to it, I have it in my pocket. I also have a remote to turn it up and down right now. She has two programs in it currently, one for the left side and one for the right side. She said if I go for the final implant she can put up to 100 different programs in it for me. The pain.. The procedure was painless. and When they woke me up it was on and my back and legs and feet I could not feel any pain anymore. It brought tears to my eyes. It has been a long time since I have been that pain free. Still feel great at 4:30 this afternoon. Before anytime of the day I could lay down and fall asleep in either 5 or 10 minutes. Tried to lay down and teke a nap but could not fall asleep, all I want to do is get up and be active and do something. But know I must take it easy. I will be off work untill Wed. next week. The Dr will remove it on Tuesday. If you guys would want to see how it looks on my back , I can post a picture on here as my wife took a few with her digital camera so I could see how my back looks. Guys right now I think this is the best thing ther is. I feel like a human again and my mind is all clear again. I am going to start trying to cut back on the pain meds slowly to see how I feel. I wish all of you could at least get an opportunity to at least try this to see how it feels.
Thank you guys for careing and for your prayers. That is more than I got at work, not even a I wish you good luck tomorrow with your surgrey from them. The cost not sure of how much I was told somewhere near 40,000 for it.. and RIght now worth every penny and more.

[AQA]

C_F, Glad to hear all went well. I have a medtronic also. Just to let you know, the recently changed thier name to Boston Scientific. That realy doesn't matter. What matters is that it works.

I will tell you a short story. I had an alergic reaction to the type of tape they used on me. I have never had a reaction before. I guess my back is a little sencitive. Anyway, I was replacing the bandage daily. The day before I went in to have the leads removed, One of the leads came out of my back. I then removed the other and the stitch in my side. When I saw the dr. the next morning I explained it all to him. The point of the story is to let you know that there is no pain during the removale, hence, really no recovery needed. Other than keeping the insiction dry for a few days so it can heal.

Glad it is working for you. I am unaware of all your symptoms. The SCS is not a fix all cure. But any reliefe is better than no reliefe.

Take Care.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

This is great news. I'm so pleased and happy for you. Just remember to becareful and not over do something because you feel good now.

[Cervical_Fusion]

NO SEX LOL

[hurt at work]

that great hope all goes well and works.my dr said it would also be around 100,000.but hey if it works and ur not paying for it what the heck take what you can get .wc does.

[Cervical_Fusion]

Today will be my 3rd day with the trail stimulator. Got up feeling great today. Like the pain from the surgical procedure has now gone. I should be able to see how well it is doing for the chronic pain. I have started cutting back on the meds. I my only wish is to be able to be at work with this on and after my 10 hour day on my feet see how well this works. But can not work with the trial in so I will not get to see that.

[lfoster21]

I am very happy for you. My Surgeon told me that the result that I got from the trial would probably be the same with the real one...so it is sounding pretty good for you. I am thrilled for you!

Please keep us all posted.

[AQA]

C_F, if I may make a suggestion. Pick a time, any time and mimic what you do for work. Push yourself during that time. Maybe go to a gym. Some offer a free day visit to see if you like the place before you sign up for membership.

Please do not get to excited about the results of the SCS just yet. I know that any reliefe is better than no relief, but until you can mimic/or do your job with it one, you won't know until the permenet one is implated. Maybe you can contact your place of employment and ask if you can come in to see what happens. I do not know what you do for a job. Keep in mind that if you have the permenent one implanted that your bending may be limited.

I am glad the results are good so far.

Take care

[Cervical_Fusion]

Spinal Cord stimulator trial ends tomorrow morning at 10. The Dr will take it out. Spoke to Medtronics Rep Sunday evening and she explained to me how the dr would proceed with WC on this. Also told me about the Dr who would do the implant. I have enjoyed the trial and how it feels. Spent the day outside on my feet today. I was out trying to some what simulate being on my feet all day at work. It kicked my butt today. Since I have not been working since last week all I have done is sit around and lay around untill today. I was out on my feet from 8:30 untill 3pm today. Man it kicked my butt. Had to come in and go to bed and rest for at atleast 4 hours. But the stimulator worked good while I was out. Will see what the dr's say tomorrow when it gets removed. Do I proceed to the next level or do I not?? Big question for me to decide. but I can not live on meds the rest of my life and I can not continue to work 10 hr shifts the rest of my life either. Since it has been ruled that I am not a surgical canidate what other options are there for me but a scs?? or a pain pump??