There is a perspective I could deliver, but will not, feeling you are centered well in your focus. No, I do not and have not advocated going places where you feel threatened by the process, Spine.

When I had the eval I was still unemployed in the sense I desired, but had made quite a bit of hay providing pro bono services for those who could not afford to pay a professional although so many in the present marketplace have needed legal help. I assisted people with the work necessary to modify their mortgage loans so they could hold onto homes from which they faced expulsion through foreclosure.

During this time my wife and two eldest sons had taken what little remained of our retirement funds and started a business which helped people deal with their pain through a widget I had patented. It was a good time of sharing with people who by and large were feeling blessed by the widget and they gave responses which buoyed my spirits. I was, and still am, the legal guy for the company.

Further, I had been counseling people who were without work, having started up a group of people who were seeking employment in our community and the efforts resulted in all finding gainful work.

Things such as this gave me blessings about which to speak at the time of the eval so the psychologist who did refer me positively as a selectee for surgery. I just told the story the way it was.

Yes, my wife and I had lost millions in the crash of stock values in which we had invested. Yes, I had lost the job which had enabled me to ride private jets and limos as I did my "so called" important stuff around the country. Yes, the wreck in which I was involved had isolated me in the prison of our bedroom, because it hurt too much to do all I had done previously. Yes, one of our children decided at this time to act out and have brushes with the law, then he ran away and we knew not whether he was dead or alive.

So, did I go into all of that bad stuff, no. Sure, I admitted the wreck, the injuries, the consequent loss of job, but I spoke of blessings which were far more important. I told what was at that time the truth about our circumstance and our feelings of hope as a family. Such is the perspective I presented.

If you have blessings in your life, talk about them! If you are experiencing hope for a brighter tomorrow, share your feelings. Do you have pain?? You sure as shooting DO, otherwise you would not be seeking SCS intervention. Does pain deal you hard blows? Yes, but are you able to see the positive? Yeah, you are, since you have learned something of good from your Trial. Do you have unrealistic expectations about the process as a whole, including its outcome??? This is the trick question, because insurance wants to weed out unrealistic expectation as they are concerned about paying for a procedure and paying later to have it removed because it did not meet expectations....... I hate that particular wrinkle...... So, how did I answer the trick question? I looked the psych in the eye and said, "look, in my profession I have had to deal too often with the unrealistic expectations of clients. I understand the drill. I weigh the pros and cons and analyze the situation. My trial was a positive event over all, and pain management was achieved. The hope I have if I am allowed to proceed with permanent implant is a better means to manage pain than with narcotics. None of us can predict what the future holds, even you, Dr Soandso, but for me, I am willing to give this approach a go if I can find the restorative opportunity for life shown to me via the brief window in time during my trial implant."

I was not sent off at that moment for further counselling. No prescriptions were suggested for me as a consequence of the interview via my physician. I received a go ahead signal.

Guess what? The reason I ever made Rrae's acquaintance in this little corner of the universe was because I bumped into Neurotalk as I attempted to learn something about the psych eval. I reckon that pretty much puts you, Spine, and me around the same starting place. Rrae told me I would live through the event, just as I am telling you..... and she did not fear I would blow it. I have no such fear for you either.

Go in. Do your best. Go home, and you will learn the results in about ten days to two weeks as I did. It will be OK, especially if you go in fresh, rested, and ready to tell it like it is. I did.

Prayin,
Mark56z