Hi Nancy-h,
I'm sorry, I haven't been on this site in quite some time, but I did want to respond to your inquiry regarding Intrathecal Pain Pumps. I had one implanted in March 2003 and it has truly given me my life back. Prior to that, I was taking astronomical amounts of morphine every day and also bed-ridden; not a fun time for someone who was 44 years old! I had an L5/S1 fusion with graft in June of 2001, which I've been told has fused, but ended up with failed back syndrome. Nothing that was tried did any good for me, so as the last resort, my pain doc suggested the pump. At that time, I was ready to do anything to reduce my pain and get me out of bed. The trial went very well, and the pump was implanted. I have had several of the "rare" effects that can happen, but I would still do it all over again without hesitating for an instant. The issues have all been resolved, and I now have dilaudid, clonidine & bupivacaine in the pump. I do have the older model, so my refills are only 3 weeks apart, but once I get the newer implant, I'm told the reservoir can hold around double the drug as the one I currently have, so I'll be able to go longer between refills. Thank God for insurance, though, as the implant and maintenance is not cheap! I have to say that most days, I don't even remember that I have the pump; I'm working 40 plus hours per week, and my lower back does well as long as I don't over-do it. Once the lower back pain was worked out, my neck started giving me all kinds of trouble. I now have a spinal cord stimulator for the severe neck and right arm pain, which is also doing a fine job. Unfortunately, now the pain has also moved to the left side, so I'm stuck with lots of injections and nerve blocks for that horrendous pain. Overall, though, I'm SO happy I have the pump and the stimulator. I don't know what you've done since your post was back in June 2007, but I hope you're doing well at this point. Take care, and if you have anymore questions, I'll try to tell you whatever I can (I'm definitely not a medical expert, but I can speak about my experiences). Good luck to you!
Chlobert (Pam)