I was totally awake for the trial. I had the so called "sedation" as Rrae explained. I was told that many people fall asleep during it and are woke up when the Rep needs to ask questions about where you are feeling it so I was under the impression that it would be a breeze and realitively pain free (silly me because is anything really pain free in our lives! Hahahaha!). Boy was it an eye opener for me. I literally felt the needles going in and totally felt the leads moving down my back. I will be honest. It was very painful to me. However, not realizing that I could get more of the sedation (as I was never told "let me know if you feel any pain and we can up your pain meds"), I gritted my teeth and got thru it. So if you do go through with the trial, please do not hesitate and ask for more sedation if you feel pain. One of the main things I have learned in all of this is to be VOCAL. You are your best advocate. I take full responsibility for the added pain I went through. If I had said something, things might have been different but not knowing was my downfall. Educating yourself is the best thing you can do. You've obviously started by coming here and asking the questions first. I did not find this place until after the trial but before surgery......hindsights 20/20, I guess.

As far as the actual surgery, I was completely out. HURRAY!! I made sure I asked three or four times if I would be completely out as I did not want to go through the pain of the trial again. However, I would be prepared if I was to be awake!!! I did have the laminectomy and since I had the trial, the surgeon knew exactly where to insert.

Good luck!