Hi everyone! I am so grateful to have found this site and am hoping to get some insight from all of you. My name is Shelby, I am 38, a newly-married mother of two who has had RSD/CRPS for 8-9 years from a work-related carpal tunnel surgery.
It has never been determined whether it was from the surgery itself or the fact that my cast was put on way too tight and I lost all sensation in my hand/arm for the two weeks it was left on. But I digress.
I am very interested in reading and hearing about others' responses to SCS. I have been battling this disease for 8-9 years (9 years but it took a full year to get a diagnosis). In the past, I have been on multiple medications and managed to live through the pain as I have a child with special needs and when I had a severe flare up I'd have a stellate ganglion block and then radiofrequency ablasion a month later.

On Nov. 27, I had another flare up - it seems that each flare gets worse and the recovery time longer. Because this is a work comp issue - I won the case and have lifetime medical coverage - I have to go to an occupational health doctor who then refers me to a pain doctor who is in town only two days a week. Because of the whole work comp issues, there are times it takes weeks for me to get approval to go to the pain doctor, and then additional weeks to get in. I also have never been able to just go to the pharmacy and have my meds covered - the last time, I was so bent over in pain that the pharmacist gave me my meds to get me through the weekend because he has been dealing with this for years with them.

My insurance card says "paid without prejudice" on it but they literally never pay. I usually end up paying for the pain meds and wait the week for my lawyer to get them to cover the meds. Because of this and because I am newly married, I went to a new pain clinic that opened in town and used my new insurance that wasn't aware this was a WC issue.
That doctor is absolutely wonderful, has been a lifesaver, has gotten my meds at a reasonable level and amount - there are times I can't form a sentence or remember things because I am so loopy. This doctor performed my block for me the day after my initial visit - without insurance approval - because I was in so much pain. He recommended trying the SCS to see what it would do for me. He actually called my insurance adjuster and got the procedure covered and I have an attorney involved who couldn't do that.

I have tried everything - ot/pt, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, blocks, gloves, wraps, and literally 50 different meds. I had been taking 13 different types of drugs up until two weeks ago and am now down to 8. My trial was last week and it worked amazingly well for me. I was able to hold a pen in my hand - I know that doesn't sound like much - but for me a pen is like a 100 pound weight. I have been able to slightly open my hand from the "claw" position, go for a walk with my husband, laugh with my son and play with my dogs for the first time in a month while I had the trial.
Granted, the last day my wire pulled out and I had some issues with that but I was warned that it was basically floating around in there and this could happen. I went from taking 8-10 pain pills a day to 2-3 and one day only took 1. That is huge for me! I was literally in tears on Tuesday when I had the trial removed. My doctor just received his hospital priveleges and is going to put in the permanent SCS on the 16th.
I am very nervous after reading some of the posts that the trial worked so well and then there were so many issues afterwards. I honestly don't know what else to do or what to try if I don't try this. Are there others out there who have had success with the SCS? I realize and expect that there will probably be some issues but literally my life is at a standstill.

I couldn't have my wedding band put on my left hand, I can't tie my shoes, button my pants, snap my bra, get a manicure, cut my food, nothing and I felt like this was a step in the right direction and with the reduction in my pain level I could maybe begin pt again and try to rebuild some strength back into my hand. Any advice anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated.
I believe in my heart this is the best step for me but I also had not read any of the issues some of you have had, and I don't know how much more of this I can take.