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HopeLivesHere · 06-15-2007, 06:12 PM

Hi
Artist, I'm not sure how much you know about the pump.
In your situation is RSD in one extremity?
Then maybe the stim is better, unless like me, you are dead set against those. When it has spread to more places like mine did, and I knew I'd be taking toxic medications that didn't even work anyway, for the rest of my life, and that I'd have no quality of life, then I knew I needed to talk to lots of people who got the pump.
Everyone who had it said they wouldn't give it up for anything. Even people who only got 75% pain relief love it.
They make 2 incisions in the spine to put the caths into the epidural space while under IV sedation. I never felt this as the area was also well-numbed.
Then they turned me over, gave me general anesthesia and made an incision on my right side below the rib cage.
They stitched a pocket in there and inserted the pump into the pocket.
They loaded the pump with morphine and clonidine and stitched me up.
I'm good until October!!!
If I need an increase I can go to the doctors office and get one.

It's so nice not to take so many useless pills. It is so strange how the (blocks), the SCS and the pump take care of the swelling sweating and color changes also. To me It proves that this is independent of the peripheral nervous system. The brain is just not going to stop firing pain signals unless something interrupts it. My pump also comes with a hand held bolus button if I should need a bolus. I don't have that part yet. Yes, my life has without a doubt changed for the better.

Deb, I don't know about running but I sure hope to be walking distances by then. And I cannot imagine next winter that the cold will not intensify my pain but it shouldn't..
This was my thinking, not that I'd advise anyone to do anything, but once a person is in their 50's (or even in their 20's if they are fed up with RSD and pain) and they are ready to get rid of the horrible pain and meds, the pump is the thing when RSD has spread everywhere.
Anxiety doesn't have any affect on the pain now.
I mean going through the risk of all those blocks, putting one's body through taking toxic medications with less and less relief, knowing I was going to end up with the pump, I thought why wait any longer? Why put off the relief? Ahhhhhhhh

Just reading on the website where people with pumps have a forum, made me realize, I've waited too long as it was. They take cocktails of morphine, fetanyl or dilaudid, what ever pain med you use, add in clonidine, muscle relaxants and / or bupivicaine also. They use such minute amounts of the medications and get good effects. Don't get me wrong, every surgery has it's complications, but this is where I would have ended up anyway. So for me it was the right time to do this. My life won't be what it was before after the years of RSD trauma though.

People don't talk about it too much on the forum. Maybe few people have one. I know a lady named Sheila got one and after healing, she left the forum because she's too busy living her life.

Frogga, love, you are still hanging in there with all you have gone through? Whadda woman.
I read your posts so I could keep up with what is going on. You are like me, "OK, now lets see what is going to go wrong next?"
Because you know it is going to happen. But I'm glad you have your bed and things are getting into place. I cried when I read about you in bed for 18 hours with no carers, or way to turn or eat. That is inhumane.

I'm surprised at all the people who have noticed the changes in me. My friends and relatives who have visited and called notice it right away. They say they haven't seen me look this way in a very long time. My face is relaxed and I feel like my future is more positive than how I was living. I was getting to the point where it was difficult to finish feeding myself a meal. And choking on food, which I still do sometime, but I am sure that is TOS.
I'm so happy I've been given a break. I can't wait to heal enough to go outside and walk up and down the street. Who knows how much longer my husband could have lived with me this way? He never complained but he is near retirement and I'm sure he did not want to spend it taking care of me and seeing the pain day after day. He loves asking me how I'm doing when he gets home at night because he knows he is going to get a good answer.
I sure hope my story has brought some joy into at least one person's life. And some hope too.
I've always said Hope IS A CHOICE. We can choose to give up on ourselves or choose hope.
Take care everyone and I hope you all have as painfree as possible weekend. And I hope you are looking forward to something wonderful blazing ahead for you on the horizon.
Huggs

Hope