Good Morning Jami-

Recovery with this new Boston Sci side kick of mine has gone very well. No, not anywhere as severe as the recovery from the laminectomy/discectomy/fusion. There is no back brace. I was sent home with ample bandaging of the incision sites and four med prescriptions to add on top of my pain management meds. I was sure to take them all. Keflex as an antibiotic to avoid infection, Decadron as a steroid to help through the first few days of potential inflammation, Flexeril for potential spasm control, and Percocet as a pain med were my arsenal of post-surgery weapons. I was sure to use the Keflex and Decadron in full, and those scrips lasted only up to a week at most. The Flexeril and Percocet I weaned away through the second week to discontinuance. There is still some soreness from surgery.... gosh, they did remove a bit of bone, pull back on some muscle, a bit of cutting, some push through of wires between the paddles and generator, so it seems a reasonable pain profile which is waning.

I am thrilled with the Boston Scientific unit! Would I be their poster boy.... in a heartbeat! The unit works so well, the controls so easy. I refer to my remote as a garage door opener; although, I was not given a program to actually open the door. It was installed with only a partial charge, so when I got home, the base unit was plugged into the wall for its charge, then I took a glue patch and put it to the test about a week after surgery. Interesting how the unit emits a beep while zeroing in on the generator, in my case in the right hip, then when it is directly over the generator, the beep stops and SMACK, it stuck it to me..... Well, OK, not necessarily SMACK because only the week before they had cut my open and stuck a foreign object in there, but you get the idea. I was a little more ginger with the removal of the adhesive.

Charging really only took about 45 minutes. My remote indicated full charge, and after five days of continuous use, still indicates full charge. This puppy is my new friend as it has brought me freedom from the "drive me to the brink of death" nerve pain, and I have been free from that pain since last Friday at mid-day when we calibrated/programmed the generator. I am HAPPY with this. Friends say they hear it in my voice and see it in my eyes. I feel as though God blessed me in a great way, and I am grateful.

Now to the beginning of withdrawal from the pain management meds. This will be a good thing, I can feel it.... I hope and pray yours goes as well. Yes I do!

Glad to have Boston Sci,
Mark56 PJ

Since I am having an excrutiating pain night, yet another question dawned on me.

I am having the SCS for my lower back/left leg BUT I also have chronic pain issues with my neck/shoulder and right arm. Tonight is one of "those" rough chronic pain nights more so in my neck. The C7/T1 disc is the area of concern for my pain doc. I am already fused C4/5, C5/6 and C6/7.

While I am on the trial or even after I have the permanent implant done, how am I going to deem that its a success if I am still having to take pain meds for my neck? I also had read somewhere that having the scs implant can create a problem in the event future surgery is needed. Has anyone else found this to be the case? We know I need surgery on my neck at SOME point, it just won't be any time soon (if I can help it).

Does anyone have the SCS for the lower limbs and continues to deal with CP for the upper limbs? Can the disc that is the area of concern at the moment create any problems when it comes to putting the implant in since the incision is above the lumbar spine?

Wow,
That's a good question. ! The very first thing that came to mind is make SURE you get an up to date MRI of your spine B4 getting the implant....in case they need to refer to that regarding your issues with upper cervical.
We can't get MRI's after getting the implant.

Someone here (can't remember who) was implying that they were gonna get a dual lead implant, one lead up higher than the other to cover cervical and the other lead for the lumbar.
Others have successfully had 2 implants.....
I'd make sure you have good communication with your medical team and have the plan all layed out on the table (and in writing!!) ...i'm a biggie on that, because I've seen too many times when a patient was told ONE thing, yet in reality their chart was different.

The medication question is a good one as well. I remember having a fit over how i was going to manage during the trial and trying to determine if it was working.....but honestly.....it all just 'works out'......you know your body and you'll somehow 'know'.....even if you have to try and cut your meds way back for a short time to determine if pain is decreased in your lower body.
Hopefully your Dr will coach you thru this.

I'm sorry you are having such a bad pain day.
Flares still come.....and to this day i do not comprehend what i do or don't do that triggers a 'bad' day.
They suck.

Hang in there
Rae

Jami- Look up Fionab! She is going to receive dual installations for Cervical and Lumbar issues. Coming up. Take a look at a thread where she discusses this here: http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ghlight=fionab

Give her a shout, because she may be able to to help you with your questions regarding the "hey, wait a minute, I have chronic pain in more than one area. Truly, a lumbar mounted and directed device, as I have been told, will only treat that lower limb difficulty. You need to write to Fiona. Now is a good time to be asking those all important questions of both Fiona and your doc.

g'night,
Mark56 JP

I had one completely different set of questions for the doc when discussing the scs and can see that there is a lot more to the SCS than basic questions like what limitations, how is the trial and permanent done etc. Maybe it would be helpful to come up with a list of questions that people can use when they discuss the SCS with their docs?

I will look for my notepad with my original questions to add or start a post about. Can you guys think of questions that may be helpful to ask?

Rae, I didn't think about having an MRI done on my neck now. I am almost afraid to have it done because of what they will tell me. That could impact my decision about the timing of having the SCS done *sigh* I will definitely discuss having it done at my appt. though.

Mark, because of the future surgery that will have to be done on my neck, I am not a candidate for a dual scs. That much my doc did tell me. I just need to go more into detail with him about how that is going to affect things at a later date. I think I got so psyched about finally deciding to go forward with the SCS that my brain went foggy on some of questions I should have asked.

By the way, how long was it before you were able to drive after your perm scs? Did you drive at all with the trial in place? After my lumbar fusion, I think it was 4 - 6 weeks before I drove. That was just to my local dr. appt. I probably could have driven before that but was too nervous since I couldn't "twist" to look over my shoulder very well - I had to wear a back brace for 3 months. After that surgery, I had to rely on my daughter and ex to be my chauffeur for the most part. I need to plan this part out ahead of time since I don't have him to help and she now has a daughter who has therapy 3 times a week.

Hi Jami-

Yep, I put together a list of questions and took them to the doc, reading them off, one by one, as we worked through the determination whether to proceed with SCS, because, frankly, I feared risks and such. Maybe we ought to start a sticky thread at top of the list, you know. That way folks could post the questions they asked and future readers could take a look, putting together questions for their docs as they read through the stickies.

Still not driving. Wasn't allowed during Trial, told not to until a few weeks out from permanent, and since I am still weaning off of the morphine, frankly, I have not wanted to drive as a prescribed user of morphine. You know, reading the cautions on the bottle, and taking that to heart. I just wanted to avoid the risk of another wreck because my reaction times are slowed, and potentially hurting others or myself. Further, can you imagine the impace to a case if a prescribed user was on the witness stand in a trial wher the question is posed "Mr. Soandso, would you please list for us the medications you had taken on the date of the traffic accident in question?" I mean, gee, to answer "Well, I, uh, was taking morphine sulfate.....among others." The counsel for the plaintiff would have a heyday. Thus, some of this refraining from driving is following prescription bottle restrictions.

So, maybe we should start a sticky thread for those questions one has posed in their own case so others might learn. I agree with you.

Mark56 PJ