So here it is 26 April, or rather, the latter part of the day. No news yet on scheduling the Trial. Waiting.......... Waiting some more.......... [Drumming fingers.....], good thing I still have this externally used gizmo as it gets a goodly amount of use. Still waiting.....

Mark56

I'm a sucker for silly words.......

what is this 'gizmo' ? Externally? Electrodes?
Is this like a TENS unit thingy ?

Am i being too nosey ? ?

DO TELL! ......... You've been holding out on us!! .....we'll have to sick the 'men in black' after you for this!!

Well, now that you mention it Rae, goodness, I did not mean to hold out. Oh no! Men in Black, with their ray guns and all?!?

Anyway, it is an Interferential Stimulator of ANDME branding and has a limited set of preset programs and a nice dial up intensity. The leads [an attractive red and black] connect the generator device [which I hold in a pocket of cargo shorts] to the gummy electrodes [all four of them] which I adhere to my bod so as to shock the livin daylights out of myself in an effort to confuse the pain signals [oh, I know, hyperbole, hyperbole]. Truly, it is a benefit for which I am grateful!!!!! [and that is not an exaggeration].

[a deep bow goes here]
Mark

Nah, no ray guns.....
We use a more subtle approach......

Oh, I LOVE it, so Men in Black are PENGUINS! And they kick you aside! Har, har!

Back at y'all later when I have some more to report.... waiting.... waiting...
Mark56

Mark
I live in Orange County, CA, and was also a hard-charging exec until a fateful second in 2003 when my life changed forever and I was no longer an exec, mom, or musician. I have had an ANS SCS successfully installed since 2005. It replaced a Medtronix SCS, implanted in 2004, which proved to have failed due to a defect at the point of manufacture. I cannot speak highly enough about the ANS device or the support I have received from ANS. In October, 2009, I had a new, smaller battery installed and relocated to a new pocket from my hip to below my belt because my battery had shifted and it had become difficult for me to sit. The new battery has the benefit of being easier to recharge and holding its charge for an extended period. The ANS device has several advantages compared to the Medtronix device. First, it has enough leads to cover all four extremities. At the time of implantation, my RSD was only active on two extremities. However, we implanted leads for all four anticipating migration. Sure enough, my RSD did migrate to a third extremity one year later and my ANS device automatically handled the pain without any intervention on my part. The ANS device has the ability to be pre-programmed to store multiple programs, with a great range of sensitivity within each. Programming them is easy, done by their capable reps. In my physician's case, he has two full-time ANS reps dedicated to his office. They know every patient from the pre-surgery consultations, to the surgery suite, to being on-site during office visits. Every phone call is returned promptly. In the five years I have had my ANS device, I have required two replacement parts for my recharging equipment. The first time, the reps gave me their own equipment. The second time, I was leaving for my one and only trip since become ill with RSD and they FEDX'd the part to my hotel in Hawaii with a room service order of chocolate strawberries with a card to "feel better soon".

I was fortunate to have a specialist who is considered among the best in the world for SCS. I had consulted with others and ruled them out before finding him. I have sadly seen many with failed SCS's from other doctors. Here is what my doctor says is key to having a successful SCS. I pass his wisdom along to you. He says that the single most important factor is your choice of surgeon - that you must select the top SCS surgeon who performs the highest number of SCS implantations with the highest success rate with the selected vendor (i.e. ANS or Medtronix) He says that too many patients make the mistake of letting their pain management doctor implant their SCS, not realizing that their pain management doctor may only implant 10 SCS systems a year. Also avoid any doctor who requires you to sign up for other bundled services such as 30 days of PT, OT, stellate blocks, and pain management counseling as a package deal for their SCS implementation.

The trial itself will tell you if the SCS will or will not work. You will know instantly on the operating table. The downside is that the trial device is cumbersome and the stimulation from the trial device is more intense than the stimulation from the actual SCS. You will feel and look like Frankenstein, yet a thankful Frankenstein knowing that relief is available for your pain.

There is a minimum time period required by medical protocol between the trial and the SCS surgery to ensure that there is no possibility for infection in the trial incision sites. Your surgery will be scheduled once this period has passed. You will be awake for most of the surgery to be able to communicate to the doctor the successful placement of the leads. He will put you gently back under only when he needs to make incisions. The ANS rep will meet you prior to surgery, will be present during the surgery, and will meet with you post-op to review the basics about how to use your programmer and call your rep for assistance.

You will also be met post-op with a home healthcare nurse who will follow you home and set up your morphine drip to enable you to manage your pain for the first four days. He/she will visit you daily to monitor your incisions and the IV until it is discontinued.

The recovery from surgery requires six weeks and is more significant than expected. It is, however, the best investment you can make. You need to make accommodations during this time that for which the doctor does not prepare you, such as wearing only button down shirts, and no driving for at least three weeks, and sleeping only on your side, and no lifting of even the lightest things, and no showering for two weeks. But it is all worth it.

Before my stimulator, I was bedridden and only able to crawl within my own home. My neurologist had told me I would be wheelchair bound within one month.

I never needed to order that wheelchair once my stimulator was implanted! It changed my life. I cannot encourage you enough to proceed with your surgery.

There is research to indicate that RSD in patients who have an SCS implanted can go into remission or "disappear", SCS can be that significant. Doctors also know that SCS implemented within the first six months of the onset of RSD can have a significant impact.

SCS is fantastic, and ANS has a quality product with quality support. The key to success, however, is that your SCS is implemented by only the best of the best surgeons. And that is spoken by my doctor, who is one of the best in the world. I was just blessed to have found him. I hope you will be blessed in your journey. You have so many people behind you.

WOW SKOOZ!!!

You are packed to the gills with knowledge and priceless input!!
My jaw is still hanging open after reading that!
THANK YOU!

I'm so glad you've shared your success story! This forum is in dire need of that! We 'know' there are these stories out there but hardly anyone takes the time to TELL them!! Big BIG 'Thank You' !

Your testimony has some unique aspects to it, which have me intrigued. Such as the Home Health Morphine Pump. Wow!
Did you have the Laminectomy ?
You've certainly had top-notch quality care and that is SOOO good to hear!
They even delivered chocolate strawberries to your room!! That is so awesome........
Anyway, if Mark hasn't read this yet, he's in for a very pleasant surprise.

Hat's off to you Skooz!
Rae

to you SKOOZ

Thanks for sharing so much of yourself and your journey with all of us .
I am so glad to hear your SCS has helped and you have gotten back into life That is the best !!

I have learned some interesting things and now Gosh I am so dang lucky cus it was my pain doc who implanted mine for face pain but we did consult with neuro and he was on Stand by in the Hosp. if he was needed. I so very badly wish that when I was having mine I had a place like this forum to come to . It is a very scary thing when your the lab rat and the first to try it for certain area of body. All the people here sharing and This SCS and Pain Pump forum ROCK !!!!!!!!
Go MARK GO! I have you in my prayers and sending positive energy as you continue to what I hope wish and pray is a happy ending with SCS for pain control.

PEACE
BMW

How can I say Thank You enough for reporting on your ANS experience!! This is priceless help, giving of so much additional information that I am, well, overcome! Oh, and I feel blessed with all of those around me already who have helped me through all of the MANY surgeries following my car wreck. While I have not been handed the diagnosis of RSD, I have neuropathic pain chronically in three of my extremities, although the prior surgeries reached all four. At least one of them is Good, I think.... I have the wheelchair already, because I just can't do it all of the time, and morphine, I am so well acquainted because I have to take it all of the time now in pill form and would like the day I can get away from it.

You have given me such insight into the surgery, the battery positioning, the recovery, that I feel truly blessed! And I am a person of faith who does go in for faith as an important component of my life path. This is great.

All of the recovery you describe, I have endured before with all of the many limitations, so I feel I can do it once again; most especially if I might regain some of that life lost. I would so like to resume some of the practice for which I was trained and in which I had become skilled. It would be cool if I could get back to a more productive life. In the meantime, I invented and had patented a whizbang gizmo that has given me a something to do with my moments laying in bed, because I get to do customer service across the nation via the phone and computer, and it is so cool being able to help others with their pain. I feel God gave me a means to reach out and not only put my pain into perspective, but aid others as well. Now, if I can regain strength of some measure due to less or no morphine, that will be neat. I am game for sure.

Blessings on you for your sharing, and in your life continuity- as I hope you have regained some of your prior life important things. I for one, am a musician as well and have enjoyed sharing that with my wife before hand. Maybe again, eh?

May your day be bright!
Mark56

Goodness, Rae's jaw is hanging open, I hope you have gotten it back in place ; anyway, I just got home from church, and all of you were in my prayers, and I SO appreciate your encouragement, Rae, BurntMarshmallow [my brother-in-law prefers em that way around the campfire], and Skooz... SO much information and encouragement. I'm Going! Just waiting for the professionals. Gotta make sure they try to address both my legs and my right arm! A neighbor friend who is a physiatrist, says just don't go into it with unrealistic expectations. OK. I am just wanting to release some of these opiates for others to use, as I don't much care for them.....

And besides which, maybe re-entering some of the life experiences I have let go due to pain and meds, well.... that would just be sweet.

Still waiting.... waiting...... the Lord tells us to wait patiently. I am trying, for sure.

You all are great! Mark56