[Kort Jester]

Sure am glad we did.

For the past 10 years or so, I've battled severe back pain. I have a constant gnawing in my low back to the erosion of my facet joints.
Since most any movement causes your spine to move. From the moment my feet hit the floor by pain gets worse with virtually everything I do.
It is a daily competition to see if I can get a pot of coffee made before I have tears in my eyes from the pain. Some days I win, some days not.

I find I have to go lay down and rest my back every 3 to 4 hours. Failure to do this brings on an" EPISODE". This is what I call it when I curl up in the fetal position and cry. This usually last between 15 and 25 min. . Then I start to summon the will to compose myself. Needless to say I have learned to obey the beast and avoid episodes whenever possible. The time between episodes seems to vary about what I'm doing, the weather, stress or just what kind of day the beast itself seems to be having.

I also suffer pains in my legs from the nerve compression due to the DDD. For those of you who have nerve pains.
I need not explain it. For those who do not. I cannot begin to.

A few years back the pain and sciatica got to the point where I was forced to see an orthopedic surgeon.
He told me it was," not late yet time for fusion, but most likely in your future."
He also made it clear that effusion was a last step. As long as I could move about and had not lost strength in my extremities. He would be hesitant to do one.

Since he told me there was no fix. I asked about ways to cope and he sent me to a wonderful pain clinic.

At the pain clinic. We did PT. I still do a lot of exercises. When I'm able. They do help to a point.
We also quickly found that my condition really isn't helped by narcotics. The drugs make me spacey. They allow me to sit in one place.
They also allow me to stare for no good reason. I am pretty much not functional and certainly not even able to drive even on a Vicodin 5.

Then radiofrequency ablation entered my life. I was told it was considered extreme. And pretty much a last ditch effort for those of us who have incurable pain from untreatable causes. These work great! Not only did they get rid of the gnawing pain, but my sciatica and nerve pain went away too!

The downside is the RFA's only last about six months. Then, between doctor visits, insurance, scheduling and healing. It's about a three month process.
I will be unable to keep my job, home, ECT is I'm going to miss 3 to 6 months a year from work.

That is why when my RFA's war off around 1 February I was speaking with my pain clinic. They need something longer acting.
Given how much worse my pain is now than when it was in June when they get my last round burns.( Bilateral times three)
there's little doubt I will not be will get out of bed while sober enough to be of any use.

That is how we came to the topic of spinal implants.
Given my great success with the radiofrequency ablation's suggests that I may be a great candidate for spinal cord stimulator.
The fact that both my nerve pain and my arthritis pain go away together is also greatly encouraging. According to the clinic.

I have had my initial consult with a doctor who will do my temporary stim.
I have also had my psych eval and my PT eval.
Those were all completed on 19 March....

So now I sit waiting for insurance approval for my temporary trial!
Meanwhile, I feel I'm playing beat the clock.. My FMLA runs out June 4th.

Many of your stories have strengthened my resolve to pursue this new treatment.
It may truly be the answer to my prayers, before I have to give up everything to get help.

My greatest fear is insurance company won't want to help me because I'm not get addicted to a lot of hard-core painkillers that don't work anyway.....

If you got this far, thanks for reading.

I will sign myself as I see myself..
A Jester in Ja's court.