Questions for people that have paddle leads
 

Hi all, I am about to have my surgery in a few weeks and I am getting kind of nervous. This will be my third as most of you know and this time I will be getting the paddle leads. I was wondering if there is anyone else on here that has the paddle leads seemed to have more pain with this surgery and recovery than just the regular leads? I also wondered if you had to have staples for your surgery? I know of someone who had to have them and it made me wonder if it was the normal thing for this surgery. I have never had to have staples even though I have had at least 14 surgeries now. Also, was wondering if any of you had to have a pre-op appointment before surgery and if so what happened during it because mine is on Wednesday! I know a lot of people are about to have trial stims and maybe even actual permanent ones placed but I am really wondering about the paddle leads procedure. I am more excited than nervous but I guess it is normal to be this way. I am so happy though because I have had my stim since 2008 and when it worked right gave me so much relief and I was able to be normal again. I cannot wait to be off this walker and wheel chair for good! If someone could give me some answers to my questions I would really appreciate it ;) I hope everyone is having a good week! :hug:'sTara

p.s. if you would rather send me a message privately about your surgery experience that is fine too!

Thinking of you Tara....
 

I'm so happy for you that the surgery date is nearing!
I don't have the paddle leads, but several here should be able to give you more input on those details.......and for sure you'd want to write your Q's down and these are what will be discussed at your pre-op appointment.

At my pre-op appointment, the main thing they wanted was a UA (urine analysis, to rule out any infections)..... They also asked several questions such as: have you recently or will recently be needing to get any DENTAL work done! I had NO idea how important it is to NOT get dental work done in the same timeframe as an implant surgery. I did'nt even correlate the 2 whatsoever! I always thought health issues and dental issues were totally seperate from one another. And from here on out, we are supposed to get antibiotics in us prior to getting ANY dental work done, as it raises the risk for infection spreading thru the bloodstream. Who would have thought! :rolleyes:
Since you've had implants before, you may already know this, but it really threw me for a loop when they asked me this prior to my SCS implant because i actually DID have a root canal scheduled and could have possibly set myself up for a bad infection!
Even just to get a routine teeth cleaning, we still are supposed to take antibiotics about an hour prior to the dental appt....
We actually have a very wonderful 'Dental' forum right here at NT! If you have any questions about dental issues, ask 'Bryanna' over at the Dental Forum.
From the sounds of your prior posts, it looks as tho they are keeping a close eye on your cardiac issues.

I'm not sure about the staples you asked about. Mark's thread would be a good one to read back through, as he did a wonderful job at documenting most of the details involved with his laminectomy.

I'm excited for you Tara!
:hug:
Rae

Thank you
 

Thanks Rae, sorry for freaking out, I think its just I am under so much stress right now so it makes me freak out about the surgery too ;) I got the letter from my surgeon office yesterday and it says that for the pre op appointment they are going to do bloodwork, echocardiogram, chest x-rays and I have to pass the cardiac clearance for them to not cancel my surgery. I should be okay though because they did all that stuff a couple weeks ago and now they know about my aneurysm so I am sure it will be okay. Yeah, I knew about the antibiotics with dental work but I only knew that because I have the same blood disease as my mom and she always has to get antibiotics too. I have only had my wisdom teeth out which was at least 10 years ago and I had to have them then too. Plus with my disease I get infections so easily and it is hard to get rid of them because my white count. Anyway, yeah it is interesting though because I never would have thought about that either. I also never understand why you have to stop certain meds before surgery but I do that too. I am really excited to have this surgery especially because I am so sick of not being able to charge and how it seems to add to the pain because it creates the tugging feeling inside. I will let you all know how the pre-op appointment goes and I will be sure to ask those questions. Thanks for your reply :hug::hug:Tara.

I wonder....
 

Since we've hit on the subject of dental issues, maybe we should just start a whole new thread on that topic, because it actually is pretty important and I bet alot of folks aren't aware of how much bacteria is released into the bloodstream just from getting our TEETH worked on! :eek:
We humans have some pretty nasty stuff harboring in our teeth!!
.......and that's even if we brush and floss regularly!! :eek::eek:
People who have ANY type of implant (including knee and hip replacements) need to be aware of this.

Anyway, it sounds like you've got a big day set up for your pre surg appt.
They usually tell folks to quit taking any type of meds that thin the blood, and this includes over the counter stuff too....aspirin, etc..... (even supplements such as fish oil!)...... but in your case, they may advise differently since you have the aneurysm.....

It's normal to feel anxious as the date nears :hug:
Just keep the faith.....you are in good hands.

Caring Always
Rae
:hug::hug:

Tara:hug: Im sure you are getting excited about your date coming up real soon. I know you are very nervous but we are all rooting for you here. You have a lot on your plate to deal with before it all happens but I know you are a strong person and you will come through it all with flying colours:hug:
Good luck with your pre-op appointment

I have the lamanectomy Paddle leads SCS and I do not want to scare you. I had no idea 3 yrs ago that this was the type I was getting and was very shocked to wake up with 36 staples-but felt you should know the facts. It was quite the surgery! Just BE SURE to not do ANYTHING for at least 8 weeks after !!!! This is the most important thing that I can stress to you. It really took @ 1 year before I really felt healed. You also will have many more restrictions for life than the SCS percutaneous lead type. Hope this helps Fondly-Carol

Thank you!
 

Thanks for the reply Carol, I really appreciate it! I figured it would be more involved and I am not scared about it since I was doing much better when my stim used to work right ;). I just feel better knowing what to expect ;) I am definitely going to make sure that I know the limitations and ask my surgeon about it so I don't mess anything up...would not want to have another surgery after this one! Thanks for sharing your experience with me! :hug::hug:'sTara

Pre-op Appointment
 

Well, my pre-op appointment went well and I am cleared for surgery! It was kind of weird though because I had to do another EKG and they took a lot of blood which was not fun since I am a hard stick. I tried to ask the doctor my questions about surgery and he had no idea so I guess I will just have to ask my questions on the day of surgery. I pretty much feel like I know what to expect so I am not too worried. I think right now its just pre-surgery jitters because I know it will be sore of course but all of this will be worth it! I am still not able to charge and this is worrying me because it has to be charged a little for surgery so I am going to try to do it everyday and hoping it gets my battery back up a bit! I just wanted to let you all know how things went. I hope all of you and your families have a great Thanksgiving! I am trying to finish my baking for tomorrow but I have not been feeling very good all day and oh yeah, I have to study for a test this weekend too! I am so excited for Monday :) I will probably check back in Sunday night and then of course let you all know how it goes after! Take care and lots of :hug::hug::hug:'sTara

Just wanted to pipe in and give my experience so far.

I had 25 staples.. and had them removed on Monday. Not a big deal at all. The staples didn't cause any irritation or infection... and there was minimal pain when they were removed.. really not a big thing at all. I have had much more pain when having STITCHES removed (the kind that don't dissolve). So staples are now what I prefer.

My doctor didn't give me many limitations. With the leads, he said you can't put your arms above your head, do a lot of lifting, etc. But because the paddles are more securely placed, he didn't give me those limitations. I can't lift a LOT for a few months, but it definitely will not take a year for me to be back to normal. I had surgery 2 weeks ago and I am up and moving around more than I have in MONTHS. So my experience has been very different. I wasn't given ANY limitations for LIFE. I have to be careful for a few months, yes... but once that time period is up, I can go back to life as "normal".

No staples here.....
 

Hi Tara,

I had stitches and had no problems at all. They healed very nicely in a matter of weeks. The only glitch I had would be the nurse taking them out. She had a few problems taking them out so needed to get help. Once someone else worked on them, it went just fine.

Good luck on Monday!!

Oh My, I should have posted on this
 

But then at that time, I was in this hole from which I could not extricate myself. Even so, my leads are paddles, sutured and scarred down just so nicely. I look forward to doing things that are more risky like KZLrogue and her golfing, but for now, I am still taking things sort of easy.

They glued me shut, surprised. They must have used a whole bottle of it because the incision is pretty long, then there is the matter of the hip incision for the battery pack and works. They must be experts, because when I use super glue, I just wind up gluing my fingers together. But others who are expert in healing here have told you to TAKE IT EASY FOR THE FIRST EIGHT WEEKS or so, and that is the deal. Be good to yourself. I saw your staple pictures, and thought, WOW, I can't imagine, but it will work and work well. Paddles for me have been a GODSEND. I am no longer on any pain meds even for breakthrough because I just turn myself UP, WAY UP and it handles it. I don't want the meds that muddle my mind because in my line of work, a sharp mind and keen wit is what cuts the grade.

Now, there you have it. Paddles are sweet. Recovery carefully approached will go well. You will be feeling much better soon.

Love to you and Jerry during this process along with my prayers,
Mark56:hug:

They used glue to close my incisions as well. Of all my surgeries that was a first for me. I don't know what kind of leads I have, never thought to ask, but I will when I go in for my check up, just curious now. :)