Ah a reacher/grabber is such a good idea! That will help me out a lot

I will be staying home the majority of the time, probably, but I do need to go to class. My doctor says that I will be able to go the day after, which would be great, but I'm also prepared for the possibility that I may not feel up to it right away. Although I will have to carry a light load with me when I go. Loose clothing, though, definitely. I don't mind looking a little lazy sometimes

I will be keeping a journal too. The psychologist doing my evaluation also suggested I keep a journal for the week before as well, so I have something concrete to compare it too. I think this is a good idea.

Hmmm the twilight can be tricky to remember things afterwards, but I will try my hardest to stay focused during the procedure and give them the best information possible!

I will check out the peripheral neuropathy forum as well, thank you for the link!

And thank you Sinead, I really appreciate it!

I'm excited for you, Yellow!

Goin back to class the next day might be pushin it, but you young-uns can do alot more than some of us.
Has any of your doctors brought up peripheral neuropathy? To this day I'm still confused over my diagnosis. My legs and knees burn alot, but they don't look anything like the pictures of the RSD in that forum. Do yours?
Each leg felt like it weighed 200 lbs and at night was the worst, like a major case of restless leg syndrome

Hello Yellow and Welcome,

You are I have our trials only a day apart. We will have much to talk about in the coming weeks comparing our experiences and please God our successes. I am having the Nervo system. I wish you all the best. You are so young to be suffering so much.

Kindest regards,
Patricia

Praying for you that your trial goes great and you get good pain relief. I have two SCS's so went through two trials, about three months apart. Please keep in mind that what I'm about to say was MY experience, and won't necessarily happen to you...but I always like to forewarn folks going into the trial so you're aware of what MAY happen afterwards.

Both of my trials went great and I loved being pain free (actually, my dr. told me to do things normally so I'd get a true picture of whether the permanent implant would really help or not...they did caution me about not doing anything that may pull the wires loose eventhough they taped the heck out of me).

The problem I had was after the trial and waiting for the permanent to be implanted. My pain was even worse than before the trial. I think a few folks on here may have experienced the same thing, not sure. But for me, the pain was definitely worse after the trial than before. Not sure if I'd gotten used to the brief respite from being in pain or if it was them messing with the nerves when they put the trial leads in, or probably a combination of both.

Anyhow, saying all that to say this...make sure you have an adequate supply of pain meds. on hand after the trial is over and they take the leads out just in case you experience an increase in your pain. Also, make sure your dr. knows that you've heard this has happened to other people, so if it does happen to you (sure hoping it doesn't!!), he is aware that you may need an increase or change in pain meds. while you're waiting on the permanent implant. Again, probably won't happen to you but just want you to be ready for it IF it does.

Thank you fionab for your caution and advise. I have mixed emotions at present. I am looking forward to experiencing a reduction in pain but on the other hand I dread the thought that the trial may not give me the relief I long for.

I have my "wardrobe" organised for the duration of the trial, jogpants and more jogpants. No doctor in the G.P practice I attend has even heard of a SCS. They are looking forward to seeing the town's first Bionic Woman.

P

Rae, none of my doctors have mentioned PN, but I'll have to do more research on it because one doctor I saw took some convincing that I had RSD but decided that I do after ruling out other options. From what I've been told, RSD is a diagnosis of exclusion. I guess my case is a little atypical for normal RSD (but that's the story of my medical life lol) but it still seems to fit with my symptoms the best.I will look more into PN, though, to see, as my doctor also thought there might be a secondary condition as well at one point.

Patricia, I wish you the very best success with your trial!! I look forward to hearing about your experiences too. And thank you very much.

fionab, thank you for the warning! With all of my nerve blocks and bier blocks I've run into this problem, and strangely enough the worse pain always seemed to last as long as I had relief for. Then I had a 5 day inpatient epidural, and the same thing- worse pain for 5 days and then it leveled back out. Now I got a 6 week tunneled epidural catheter out a week ago tomorrow, and the pain has just been so awful after getting that removed. So based on that history, I'm almost sure that you're right and it will happen to me after the trial. It's a very good thing to be prepared for!! I'm not sure why it happens, but it's like the pain is making up for lost time

I heard that Rrea...it just took a really long time.

Speaking of stupid questions (), here's another one: the not bending, twisting, etc...is that just during the trial period, or is that forever?

Just ask KZLRogue, who used to frequent these parts. She has played golf and resumed karate a bit over a year post op. Life does move on..... BLAST is not a forever thing.

During Trial only a couple little sutures at the entry points hold the leads in position with the added benefit of LOTS of tape. Rrae used more just to make sure it was snug. After the implant surgery, you really should follow doc's instructions about movement restriction so as not to wind up with possible migrated leads [Remember Rrae, and Tchr012?] and allow leads or paddles, whatever is implanted to scar in well before too much is taken for granted.

Now, the only silly thing I am familiar with on these posts lately was my response to befuzzlement...... oh, and I do seem to recall being QUITE befuzzled when under the influence of the pain management meds.......

Yep,
Mark56

Indeed, one should absolutely under NO circumstances throw bales of HAY to horses shortly after having the implant
Who on EARTH would be silly enuf to do THAT

Well tomorrow's the day! I have to say my biggest worry is that I will be too sedated to give the right information when they ask me how it feels, but I will try hard to stay focused After a particularly bad pain day today, I'm more than ready to get this trial going and praying that I will have good results from it. I had a scare this morning when the doctor's office called me and told me they still haven't received insurance approval and if they didn't they'd have to reschedule. Luckily when I called the insurance company they said it was just approved this morning. I need to prep the house tonight for when I come home, and I have to ask my doctor to call my physical therapist so that she knows exactly what exercises I can and can't do during the trial.