I know this is not what you want to hear, but I have had mine in since May, 2003. I still have discomfort from the battery (feels like I am sitting on a brick), the wires, and the staples/anchors in the vertebrae (a sharp object pushing on the skin from the inside) where the wires are pushed into the spinal column. Some days are better than others, but mostly, I cannot get real comfortable in my office chair, on a longer car trip, or any other similar activity. I use lots of soft, soft pillows!

I have heard that many others will not have these pains after about 6 - 10 months. The doctor who put mine in washed his hands and would not see me shortly after the installation. He said I just needed to heal.

About two years after I had it put in, I saw a respected neurosurgeon at a large, teaching hospital with a trauma center. He said the installation was 'botched' and that the whole thing should be relocated when the battery needed to be replaced. After Mary's experience, I am not sure I want to do that, or just have it taken out.

I hate to be all gloom-and-doom. There have been many threads on this board about this, and there are plenty of people who are totally satisfied with their SCS. I would suggest that you hang in there for about a year, and then start looking for second opinions about where to go with it.

Hope you get better soon,

Mike