Hi Colleen
Good luck with your up coming trial.. Mine was a year ago last May. My trial started on Mon. and was out Friday. Removal was the easiest part. I was standing and leaning on the exam table. My Dr. came in to discuss the results. His nurse came in and said here goes, with a slight pull the temporary lead was pulled down and out. Absolutely no pain. Hardly new he had it out. It kind of reminded me of the Berlin of dental floss pulled through your teeth. You just feel it as the last bit comes out.

My trial implant was done as an out patient procedure. In about 6am and home for lunch.
The sedation is light. My pain is due to abdominal pain from sphincter of odi disfunction.(pancreas). My pain is very specific in my upper gastric area but it is intermittent. Both the Dr. and rep were challenged to get the stimulation to such a small specific area. Make sure you pay close attention to where you feel the stimulation so that it covers the entire area you need. Do be afraid to tell them its not right. My Dr. said to try and do as many things that you normally do so that you can feel the stim during different movements.

I too have 2 labs who require lots of attention. I got to be pretty good at doing squats to get down low. Make sure to have a grabber for reaching things above your shoulders and down on the ground after implant. Things will always be out of reach. Before your implant go through your house and bring things to counter level that you use frequently. Remember no reaching above your shoulders, no bending, no stretching, no lifting above 8#, no twisting.
Its so easy to forget when the pain eases after about three weeks to try and reach or twist or bend. Many have used a back binder that their dr. gave them for extra support.

My doctor was very cautious about infection and waited two months between trial and implant. He didn't allow ice for relief of pain because he didn't want any moisture near the incisions. I found sweat pants and yoga pants to be very comfortable while healing. Good Luck.

Sandy Kay