Hi Joan-

I have resisted the number scheme, as due to the subjectivity involved and the inability to assess/observe my internal pain meter, I have done my best, but felt rankled at the intuitive feel. Since in pain, there was never a moment when I felt without pain as was the case before my wreck..... oh to live back then in a pain free life......

Even now, though the stim manages pain, the pain is not constantly GONE, as the pain rhythm rises and falls depending upon what I am doing, and I adjust my stim accordingly.

The numbers seem the medical standard for inquiring, as they've naught but the numbers to use and chronicle the pain in the file. I have kept a pain diary, entering differing pain levels throughout a day, although right now I no longer make diary entries. I just deal with it, and my stime helps immensely.

Digressing to the passing of your Mom, though the emotional pain, regret, and sorrow remain when you will reflect, I, too, would be happy to go as did she, in peaceful slumber, awakening to the brilliance of Heaven. Warm heartfelt hugs and prayers for comforting are sent your way.

Blessings on you, my friend,
zzzz too,
Mark56

Like I always say - even if the pain is rated at a 4, if it is constant and chronic...it can seem like a 9....sometimes even a 10 if you have moments when you are writhing around wishing that 'bright light' would get here sooner than not.
Mark speaks of yelling into his pillow. He would lie on a pew in church in tears. I used to be at my office (by myself thankfully) on the floor writhing, crying, gritting my teeth. These are realities to people.
Yes, and try to explain THAT to the health 'team'. Nope, all they seem to care about is the number. How generic is that.

No doubt in our future, the Borg Collective will bring us a pain meter to install as part of our fully bionic integration into the machine age [truly I hope not], but it would bring an empirical data source!

Resistance is NOT Futile,
Mark56

My Internet access was down for a few days !

Thanks for validating my frustration with the pain numbers, Mark & Rrae.

Well, I had my appointment yesterday with the doc to talk about the SCS. I already have my psyche eval appointment set up for next week, so I guess you could say that the process is in motion.

Another question for you, and this time, I don't think so stooooopid: does it bother you that you can never have an MRI? I guess it does me a little because of my history of cancer. Then again, I didn't need an MRI to diagnose the cancer that I had, so maybe it's not that important...and maybe this pain is miserable enough that it's worth the risk. Yeah, I think that's true.

Joan, it did not bother me one bit that MRI would be VERBOTEN after SCS. You see, by then the pain was so horrible I felt I had a choice...... life with SCS if it succeeded [and it has tremendously] or drugs forever which would keep me bed bound, bedroom imprisoned, and never work again because my brain was befuddled with meds.

I chose SCS.

Looking forward and not back, I figure my chances of cancer are better than buying a winning lotto ticket since all four of my grandparents died in that fashion. As God wills, I will live, giving thanks and glory wherever I can, as with the purchase of pizza this evening on the way home for pizza and a movie....... clerk asks "how are you?" and by now the chorus knows I repleid "I feel blessed, how about you?" My reward was the huge smile from the clerk.

Blessed,
Prayin for ya,
Mark56

P.S. Glad you have the psych eval set!

You have any lingering back/spine issues, or have reason to suspect something, you could run this by Dr and he might deem it logical to have an MRI done before your implant, just to have it.

I did, and it was discovered that I had a slight scoliosis, which could explain some of my back problems, but Dr didn't think it would benefit anything if we took some kind of action to 'fix' it, as it isn't to a degree that would raise eyebrows.

Other than being happy to have the MRI on file, I don't give a flying HOOT about it from here on out.

btw, I'm so sorry you had a bout with cancer? You sure have been thru some tests and trials.

We did a "capture the baseline" MRI just before the implant on me so surgeon could both see what was in there besides snails, nails, and puppy dog tails, some titanium, and other junk from lunch, AND to create a record for "The Way We Were" [I used to like hearing Karen Carpenter sing that....].

MRI beforehand may even be a routine standard of care in this situation by now......

Yup,
Mark56

Yeah, those are good ways to approach this question. And like I said, I didnt even have an MRI for the cancer I had (endometrial), and if I had, it wouuldn't have told us we didn't already know. ( Maybe there are some cancers that would make MRIs more important, but I'll just make a note not get that that kind.

Shrink appt is next week, not this week, as I thought it was. But whenever it is, I think it will be OK, and I feel even more like a normal person since I'm been off of that stupid Lyrica. I wouldn't want anyone observing me under those conditions!