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fstellab 11-27-2016 01:53 AM

Please, I need advice with a difficult pump situation
 
Hi Folks,
I have a morphine pain pump that has failed 7 times this year. Sending me into horrible withdrawal. A Medtronic’s tech working with a radiologist declared that the pump has failed and should be replaced. I have gone to three surgeons to get this done, each one was reluctant to replace the pump, and they said I should get a Spinal Cord Stimulation device. OK, I get the message, but none of them will help me move off the pump. Meanwhile I suffer bad back pain, it is relentless and effects my whole life, after 10 years of Intrathecal morphine no oral or inject-able opiate drug has any effect and more then one Doctor has suggested that the morphine is causing me more pain then its relieving. So I have a level 6 pain and a feeling that I will never get relief. I have have nerve blocks, epidurals and other treatments that offered relief for a period of time.
I need some really good advice and a plan for dealing with this, I fully understand that I will need a fair amount of downtime and I will have some uncomfortable days. No doctor in my area has given me a plan.
I am a 62 year old male living in the Jacksonville,FL area. My Neurologist is filling the pump for me but he does very little else. He has “dropped the ball” on my care many times, but I cannot find anyone else in my area who will take me on. I also suffer from mixed sleep apnea, chronic fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome, Peripheral neuropathy , Diabetes and depression. This mix of problems has had some cognitive effects, I still have all my faculties, but it is harder for me to focus and my short term memory could be better.

I need advice on the following:
1. Is it true, that after 10 years, that the morphine pump is causing more pain ? My pump is currently set for 9mg continuous over 24 hr period. I would be willing to go through the suffering if eventually I would be better off.
2. Or, would I be better off getting a new pump, and keep increasing the dosage ? A company call Flowonix has a new pump called the Prometra. This company has offered to assist me with a new pump.
3. Does acupuncture work ? I have not tried that yet.

Any thoughts, advice, Doctor suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will move from Jacksonville, FL to get help this.




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