I spoke with the nurse at my Dr's office today and she said that I will be sedated but woken up to test it, will be able to drive but not with the scs on, and it will probably be more like a wk. long trial. I'm still nervous but looking forward to the chance of relief. I also asked about going back into pt because my hand is beginning to look like a claw and they will give me the prescription when I come in. Hopefully the weather holds it together so nothing gets delayed. It has been one storm after another here in NJ.

They tell you you cannot drive with the SCS on to protect them.I NEVER shut mine off and until May I was a homecare/hospice RN and averaged 200+ miles a day. No problems, some increased stim on cattle gates, washboard roads but you learn to anticipate those things so it is not a Shock when it happens.
Main thing as far as Im concerned is back precautions to reduce/prevent lead migration and wound care to prevent infection.

My point precisely- await the healing and the withdrawal from meds and then I began driving. You all know from reading my posts that my device runs 24/7 by my choice and my style of use of the stim. Truly, I have to anticipate certain postures will exacerbate the stim, and I would not run it stronly enough to interfere with driving. Pooh says it well.

There you go..... zoom,
Mark56z

Stressedout I too drive with my stim on.....and I too know if a shock is on its ways....I do turn it down a bit more than what I would have it up to when Im walking for sitting/lying down.....Hope it all works out for you too

Jackie

Does it feel like the Tens? I love my tens but lately my skin has been too sensitive to put the tens on.

Yes, I wonder whether it feels anything like a tens machine.

I had a TENS machine prior to having the SCS implanted. The sensations are more like pins and needles from the SCS compared to the TENS. I did find that the TENS wasnt as good as the SCS either. The TENS aggravated the pain in my legs compared to the stim helping the pain. I certainly miss my stim now because of the battery but hopefully I will be up and running again on TUES/WED.............

In hindsight, I found the trial to be pretty easy. I was laid face down on a table, prepped and the most pain I can remember was saying "ouch" a lot. I was done in about 30 mins.

The trickiest part is going home and making sure you don't pull any of the wires or get them caught on doorknobs, etc. Keep away from pets as they can jump up and you may find it challenging to find a good sleeping position. But, boy the pain relief I had during that time made all the inconveniences seem like no big deal.

I was crying a week later when I was back in the office getting it removed as I wanted to keep it. The nurse told me that they've actually had to send the police after folks because they don't want to give up the pain relief they've had!!

One word of CAUTION: not to say this is going to happen to you but it did to me and several others. Because you get so much pain relief during the trial (and are sometimes able to stop pain meds. during that week) AND because they mess with your nerves to put the trial leads in and then remove them, your pain may get worse than it was before the trial. For me, I was in more pain after the trial than before so make sure you have pain meds. to deal with it and make sure that your doctor is willing to help you deal with any increased pain you may experience until you get the permanent implant. My worst pain was after my trials (I had two as I have both a lumbar and cervical SCS) and waiting for my permanent implants. I'm not trying to scare you but to help you prepare just in case.

Here's hoping and praying that all goes well, and my rambling on here turns out to have been a waste of time

Noo .. thanks for that information. As you say, it doesn't happen to everyone, but it's nice to know that it's not unusual if it DOES happen .. if you know what I mean.

Thanks for all the info. I am looking forward to this but so nervous. I really need this to work, my pain has been so bad the past few months and I can't open my hand. I did ask to go back to pt and the nurse said they'd give me a prescription. I'm afraid I'll be left with bent, painful hand the rest of my life.