Im tweaked to the limit lol
 

Hi Everyone:)

Well I had my appointment with my Rep this morning. When we arrived, on time I might add, there were 3 more people ahead of me:eek:He was running late with his appointments. But I didnt mind I was just so glad to be there.

After a while I was called in. This guy is so nice. AND SO PATIENT.....have to say dont know how he can do that job. So I explained to him that although I have 5 programmes, No 2 was the one I used the most, but even though it was at its max (thats the initial settings I got in the hospital) it wasnt enough to help me. Then occasionally I would use 4 and 3 in that order.

So he set about 'tweaking'.......He told me I am definitely not hypersensitive to the sensations, which was great. So he increased the power ............OMG:eek: I was almost jigging on the floor with the sensation. But I could withstand it at a high level , which was so good for me. It covered the areas I needed. So he programmed it that it starts off very low and gradually increases to the highest level. Its a bit of an odd feeling in my legs when its quite high, again thats something I need to get used to . The feeling in my feet is 'ok' for now, again I need to become accustomed to that too. So he has now put it up VERY HIGH, so that I can use put it up to that level if I needed it, but to be cautious when say Im about to stand/sit/lie down so that I dont go off the scale! He said that I am about 2/3's of the way to its full capacity in strength and power but I still have a 1/3 to go and play around with if and when my body becomes used to this sensation and level that it needs adjusting up again. :) So thats good to know.

He then gave me another programme which is a bit different to the one he just tweaked. This time my legs were MOVING a bit. He said thats not unusual as the sensation was 'different' more of a prickly feeling as opposed to the other one which is like a jaccuzzi like feeling ie, bubbles bursting against my skin, and when put higher its 'banging' or 'thumping' which I find relaxing. Odd I know:confused::D

So after about an hour we were done. Gosh it was exhausting though. I was concentrating so much so that I could tell him how I felt on a scale from 1 - 10. How the sensations was on a scale of 1 - 10. But all worth it in the end.

Then I had some questions and I had read some of the questions which Rae had put down too so I asked those.

He told me that my SCS is guaranteed for 12 months.

If a lead or the unit malfunctions AFTER that time its my Health Assurance that will look after it by replacing the part that is faulty. He said thats generally what happens. Also this unibattery should last up to at least 15 years and after that time you insurance company again will replace it. Whos to say that maybe by then something even more unique will be on the market;)

He told me to insure my remote/paddle to the value of €1500 on my home insurance on the All Risks items. Especially in the case of it maybe falling or dropping on the ground, dropping down the loo,:confused: (why would I use it there, I dunno) or whatever might happen to it which would make it malfunction. So thats good to know.

Overall I was very pleased with my visit. I have so much more coverage now in my back and legs, which is fantastic. I even met my daughter for lunch afterwards and wow what a different it was for me to actually SIT for a while without fidgeting about trying to stop the pain in my butt! So Im hopeful we are on the right track. So on leaving my Rep said to give it a month or two and see how I go with these 2 programmes, btw he didnt delete any of the others for now which was good, and then if I feel I need more tweaking to come back to him again. So Im a very happy bunny this afternoon. I just hope it continues for a long time now.


Jackie:grouphug:

happy for you
 

:):):):) 2:Jackie I am so happy for you as you are for me, the information your are sharing is so helpful. Thank God for folks like you and some other on this web site, to know you are not alone makes a great different in my mental health, cant put it in words put would be lost without yall:wink:Thanx::You-Rock:

That's funny...all these folks worldwide dropping their remotes in the "loo".:D

See how my appt. went and you'll understand.

Hey Fiona

Sure we didn't go to the same rep. Both seems to be consistent with the information which is good to hear.

Btw while I was at the hospital today a lady wad telling me' that she had to pay 10k euro ti have her stim implanted. Something to do with her insurance shortfall. Does anyone know exactly how much the implant costs. My Dr did mention somewhere in the region of 70k. As each lead costs 25k euro each. That's expensive:eek: I am waiting to get my summary from my insurance company. Now that will be interesting reading :)

Hard to say, exactly, as the doctor, Boston Scientific, and the hospital will send my insurance company their bills... but then there's the "contracted agreement" they all have, so won't know the "real" cost until it's all been worked out.

The total for all the bills that have been sent to my ins. company totals about $148K for both implants. I'm curious to see how much everyone actually gets paid.:confused:

Big $$$$$$$$
 

That is why it is a course of last resort, the psych eval is such a big thing to make sure the expenditure is worth the spend..... and all that. Lots of $$$$$ to be sure.

Mark56:)

Thank YOU So MUCH!!
 

Jackie !
OMG i am so thrilled you asked those Q's!!!
I will be going to my tweaker next week and will compare answers k.

WOW!
I am jumping for JOY at your post!!!!
It's about 3am your time as i type this and I'm hoping you are resting very well with your new adjustments!

Did your Rep mention anything to the effect that by ramping up the voltage, it drains the battery faster..... ? I'm sure we can all deduce that, but it was one of those things i needed spelled out to me..... :p

What is a 'euro' as opposed the the US $ ?
Mine was about a round figure of $100,000, and that includes the $10,000 week-long trial at the beginning.

So glad to have the heads up on the 12month guarantee thing!!
I'm sure it's the same here in the states, so it's certainly something I want to get checked to make sure all is in proper working order before the year comes up.

Thanks Again Jackie!
You are incredible!!!
:grouphug:

Euro V dollars
 

Rae:hug:

The euro against the dollar at the moment is

1 Euro = 1.27 dollars


So my lead would be $1900 And the overall cost would be in the region of $100k also I reckon..

Glad the reprogramming went well!
 

Jackie, I am so glad to hear that your reprogramming session went well. It is really weird when they tweak it and you do feel different sensations. Sometimes mine will go into my middle or stomach and I tell him to turn it down and then the worst thing was when it was causing weird pressure pains when it was turned up. Of course, I think that it was just acting weird because it is messed up but I can totally relate to all the things sensations you were talking about ;) Also, I did not know and I have never heard about insuring our equipment but it might be different because all of my stim stuff happened because of the accident so all the expenses are under that I guess. I have dropped my remote before (not in the loo tho). I am really REALLY happy that your stim is working so well for you and that you got reprogrammed! I also know that its weird waiting while they do it because one time I was in the office for 3 hours and at that point I wanted to just go home lol but you cannot do that or it will not be beneficial ;) I am just so thankful I have a patient husband who sits there with me and we all 3 talk to my rep about all kinds of stuff (even besides stim related stuff) and I feel like I am very close to him which is good since having the stim is a lifelong thing:)! Have a great weekend! :hug:'sTara