We GOTTA Pray you through this Paul so theradog can get back on the trail!!!!


1, 2, 3,.... PRAY!!!

You see, Paul, I was so similar to you in the withdrawal from the world because pain became my prison, our bed, my cell, the bedroom, as far as I ventured...... lost in a fog of medications after 27 surgeries to reassemble me following a bad car wreck on I-70. I wondered.... is this all? Am I dead to the world? Then doc suggested I consider SCS.

I feared it at first... more cutting.... more pain, and for what? Being a lawyer, I had read the fine print. It is a natural. I am good at that. Oh, what with the possibility of paralysis and such.... did I want to proceed?

Well, my wife and I viewed the video. We prayed. We researched online and I spoke with patient reps from St Judes [that is another story altogether]. Finally, it seemed the Trial would be worth it.... after all, I had not feared a trial before[ bad, bad pun].

The Trial cinched the deal! I was still on pain management meds, had never taken enough to completely control pain because it seemed I would thus be rendered perpetually unconscious. So here I am on, I think, day three of the trial... my precious wife asks me "how do you feel?" I get this funny look on my face, I try to speak but cannot because tears began to flood. Once I was back under control, I told her the tears were from joy, because I could not discern pain..... at all!!!!!! I kid you not.

Being thus sold, I went for the permanent implant, but worked out the deal with my Boston Scientific rep [part of that very long story] that I would be allowed to program myself. Frankly, THAT was the very best medical decision in my life..... programming the silly Boston Scientific Precision Plus SCS. My rep put me at the controls, watched over my shoulder and I carefully proceeded to do things which caused pain [nope, not that one] zero in on possibilities, then at last Four programs were set in my device providing variety stim so I could cycle through them if one became less effective due to over use.

GOD gave me a great gift that day, and it was the release from pain as I had known its constant presence since the wreck, so I withdrew from ALL pain management meds [also part of the very long story] and now I am mentally clear, emotionally in touch, pain is managed MOST of the time by the stim, and when it spikes, I turn it up..... quite a bit. I have never had a tweak or a revision surgery. Surgeries 28 and 29 were Trial and permanent implant.

No, I did not regain feeling in that part of the legs too far gone with permanent nerve damage, so I alternate between a cane and a wheelchair. Mostly cane. But you know what? I was able to commence a new ministry, you are now part of it. You see, I am a success story in the making and I write here to help others, also, I visit elderly and ill folk to let them know someone outside CARES DEEPLY for them. Tomorrow morning after early Bible study, I get to visit my friend Ray, 92 years young and a retired math prof from the School of Mines. What a treat. I don't know whether he blesses me more than I do him. He is a gem.

Being conscious what it is to lose all of our family accumulated wealth, and there was a lot of it....... I now am much more sensitive to the needs of folks especially in this time who cannot pay, so I do pro bono work to help with employment matters, real estate matters, corporate matters, and the ones which tear your heart in your chest..... the powers of attorney or will for one who lays dying in a cancer center of a hospital. God has given me so much, it is vital His gifts be passed on to others. I just love being helpful, even if it is as an elder in our faith who is blessing someone just about to meet God face to face.

We all here are a testament to the power of prayer for one another. Folks continually come back and even post on the blessings thread, like Eva, whose life story is the Bible personified in life lived well by one who has been tortured at the hands of others.

The reson for this long post Paul is to encourage you to remember your therapy dog is needed among those whom you will visit once God has seen to your implant in a good way. There is so much to Matthew 28. VOLUMES. This is why I altered the manner in which I greet anyone in my walk of life who asks how I am... my response "I feel blessed, how are you?"

Go into all of the world,
Knowing we are praying for you,
May your Trial be blessed,
And may you feel so released, you are back with your dog once again, sharing kindness, love, charity, hope, a touch of a helping hand,
You, my friend are called,
Now may you be healed,
Prayin for ya,
Mark56