Quote:
Originally Posted by fionab
Went in and saw my rep. for a tweak, just in case we could come up with a program that we hadn't thought of or tried before as they were able to squeeze me in yesterday. I'm still having problems with upper back, muscle spasms, sharp pains, tightness etc.. At the end of the appt. he basically told me that he's run out of programs to try and that I just need to wait and see the pain mgmt. dr. next week and see if he has any ideas on what to do.
The rep. seemed pleased with the results I do have (as am I), and said that the areas I still have problems with may be unreachable. We try to reach them via the cervical implant, but the stimulation causes the pain to get worse rather than alleviate it.
He said there's an area they call the "dead zone", which is in the upper back/shoulders area, that they just can't get with either a cervical or lumbar implant.
Hopefully the pain dr. will have some ideas next week as this "dead zone" area has always been one of my main areas of pain. The rep. was trying to be very optimistic about the results I do have as he could tell I was very disappointed to hear about this dead zone and that it may not be reachable/treatable. Sigh!!  |
Hey Fiona!
I'm so sorry to hear about them not being able to reach that spot where you really need it. I don't know if you thought of this or not and I don't know if you have read my post about my Cervical implant trial or not but I had a problem with my trial because my spine was just to tight to fit the lead(even the smallest lead was to big to fit and it doesn't help that I have Kissing Spine in the area that I needed the lead to go) and so my doctor put the lead directly under the skin where the pain actually is. I am 80/20 meaning my left side hurts more then my right side so my doctor decided to just do the left side and if it worked then we could go with the permanent on both sides and placing the leads in a T formation on both sides. This may work for you. Just a suggestion since they can't seem to cover the cervical area that you need it to be doing the "regular" SCS implant. My trial turned out awesome and I got 95 to 100% pain relief.
I pray that they can find a way around this "dead zone" for you. I know it's aggravating knowing that your so close to pain relief and then you have to stop because of complications and no other options.
Gentle
's being sent your way...keep your head up. I'm sure they can find a way around this for you. Just have faith!
Treca