I've tried to educate myself as much as possible about SCS as I await my implants on Thurs. I had my pre-surgery consult with the nurse practitioner (the dr. was still in surgery, I was told) and she answered my questions. However, this morning as I thought through things, a question came to mind that makes me wonder if I'm going into this with unrealistic expectations .

The basis of this concern is the fact that I'm getting leads and not paddles. It seems (I say, I could be wrong) that paddles are put in individuals who are/were highly active prior to their injury/accident that required them to get the SCS. The other thread where Mark talks about resuming alpine skiing, mountain biking etc. and the thread where (please forgive me, I forget your name) the guy talks about doing stuff until he's got a real good sweat going which leads me to conclude he's a very active, athletic person, has got me questioning something.

I'm wondering, if the fact that I'm getting leads and not paddles, is an indicator that my dr. doesn't expect me to resume a very active lifestyle (as some of the aforementioned people will be able to do), and that it IS strictly for pain mgmt. and to just give me some quality of life back. I asked the nurse practitioner about leads vs. paddles and she said that my dr. only does leads as paddles requires a neurosurgeon. She said that he's never had leads move on a patient because he has developed a very good technique of making sure that doesn't happen. I, of course, didn't think to ask this question that I'm raising now because, frankly, I hadn't thought it all through.

I was discussing this with my husband and he's going to be happy if I can just resume some sort of social life and go on small road trips. I, on the other hand, would love to be able to do the things I haven't been able to do for the past twenty years....waterski, ride rollercoasters, ride a wave runner, go down a zip line...you know, FUN things, not just being able to run my vacuum again, drive myself to my dr. appts. I hope I'm conveying my thoughts here adequately.

What CAN one do if they ONLY get leads and not paddles? Do leads mean that one is not going to be able to live (or make up for years lost) a life of a regular person? I guess I'm looking for a reality check here. I know that I may have to just wait and see (that's what my husband is saying), but the hope of resuming the fun activities of life is what has had me really excited about getting these SCS's, not just the prospect of getting pain relief.

All thoughts, comments and even emotional outbursts are welcome.