First of all I want to say hello! I have been a lurker, reading posts and information about SCS and their use for RSD/CRPS. I have RSD/CRPS in the right side of my face, both hands, left arm and left leg (I think it is spreading to the right leg).

I had two St. Jude stimulators implanted at the end of June, cervical and thoracic. The cervical is great, but I am having issues with the thoracic one. It has migrated a bit and when it's on I feel a great deal of pressure on my lower back and I also get some shooting pains November 2 I am scheduled to have the leads on the thoracic stimulator replaced with paddle leads and they are also going to move the battery as it has caused a lot of discomfort where they first placed it (hip/buttock area).

To my question, I know everyone is different on this, but I am just curious about how others have done with these as far as time away from work. I had the first two put in at the same time and missed a week and a half of work. I think I should have stayed home a little longer. This time I am having one done (and the battery moved) and think I should go ahead and maybe take that extra week but I feel so guilty.

Thanks for your thoughts!
Nanc

Hi Nanc! I am interested to hear responses to this as I'm having my permanent implant coming up and I am someone who likes to get right back into things, but I don't want it to impact my recovery either. It can be hard to know how much time is enough, especially when life is waiting.

Good luck with your upcoming surgery, I hope it fixes things for you!

Hi Yellow!

Thanks and I wish you luck on your upcoming procedure as well!

But I will try nevertheless. I was not gainfully employed, but wanting to be..... that was my goal as I approached the healing of my T8/T9 implant of paddles for lumbar and leg pain. 30 June 2010 was the permanent implant date. I was continued on the pain management meds until early August of the same year, at which time I began the horrible process of withdrawal from pain meds..... all of them. Depression and anxiety set in October of that year, and was quite a hurdle. By January 2011, I was at last truly ready and working hard at locating work outside the home. Two weeks ago, I began to work at the position I secured in my profession. It feels absolutely GREAT to be needed and wanted again, practicing my profession and doing well by those who employ me.

Back to when I could have, would have been able to really go to work in my scenario- I call it January 2011, and I worked very hard at seeking employment, even starting up a group of similarly situated people so we could mutually assist in the "get a job" economy. The group grew to take in all of the churches of our area, and now all but one of us have employment, and the remainder is the favored candidate for a job that will open very very soon.

This example is maybe NOT what you wanted to hear or read, but it is life in my neck of the woods. Now as to the withdrawal from those pain management meds..... my pain management doc and surgeon agree I am kinda unique there, but I had a passion to get away from the chemicals, not knowing what they would do to me in the long run [I had been on them since April 2005].

Yup,
Mark56

Thanks for your input Mark56, appreciate it. Also, sorry for what you have had to go through.

I have so many allergies that I cannot tolerate majority of the pain meds, which is good and bad. Good that I will not become addicted and bad that I do not get any relief. After so many PM docs, I finally found one I like and these stimulators were a last resort...we tried pretty much everything! I do need the pain meds when the breakthrough pain gets unbearable (they only take the edge off), but I cannot take anything when I am working which makes for a very tough day!! It takes all I have to get through the workday.

Anyway, it has been a tough road and I have to keep believing it will get better...eventually!

Thanks for listening.
Nanc

Glad you decided to start posting! This is such a wonderful forum.
I'm sorry about the ongoing problems you are faced with. It sounds as tho your medical team has a good plan in place and you are determined to make this work.

The fact that you've had this done before works in your favor because you know what to expect. I'm assuming you will have a laminectomy (removal of a small piece of bone) if they are going to put paddle leads. This is a more in-depth procedure which will certainly require more recovery time. Surely your employer will support you in this, as it IS a back surgery nonetheless! Pretty serious stuff....
You'd be setting yourself up for a more successful outcome, I believe, if you take some additional time off - less chance for complications.

I wish you the best! Please keep us updated. It's always amazing to me when someone has TWO units! Hopefully this will give you much more pain relief.

Rae

While her pain is not face centered, she has twin units installed, and her posts would be good to view, and even sending her a Private Message would elicit help for you Nanc. She gets it. She cares. She is cool and helpful.

Prayin,
Mark56

Hello, My name is Albert
I had my neck broken and some damage to my spinal cord. Im fused at C1 to C3, C4 to C6 and C7 to T1. Then they opened up a space in my neck to free up a nerve that was being crushed. The Nerve had been crushed for over a year. I'm having server pain in my neck and down my right arm and hand, no feeling in the right hand at the ring and pinky fingers, you can poke it with a needle and I cant feel it. Will the Nerve come back? My Doctor recommend that I get a Cervical Stimulaor install. Does this device work? He stated that they would place wires into your neck and send shock waves into the spinal cord at the neck area. If it works he said that they would install the stimulator permently. Has anyone had this device implanted and does it help with pain?. What are the side effect if any? Please Help!!!
Albert

Alberto- A GREAT BIG WELCOME to a new inquirer! Ok, now that the greeting is out of the way, let's try to delve into your questions.

Firstly, Fiiona will be a GREAT help to respond to cervical issues when she chimes in, as she has two units, one in upper body.

Secondly, SCS technology is a potential marvelous help for managing pain with big emphasis on MANAGING. It is not a cure all. For some, pain meds still accompany the use of the SCS since for them it does not adequately cover the full scope of their pain. For me, I manage dealing with all of my pain with just the SCS and a seat cushion I use since it is a lower body trouble we address thusly.

Thirdly, SCS cures nothing.... again it is not a cure, but a system to help manage pain. This I say for your benefit because my nerves in the lower body were severely damaged in a 2005 car wreck, the surgeons I was first sent to see said "I cannot help you." We should have gotten all five together and they could have sung it in parts kinda like Barbershop Quartets, but then I digress, SO, I was injured in April 2005, and by January 2006 when my first big back surgery occurred, the nerve damage had become permanent. Emphasis on forever. Now, of course, I was given hope by my neurosurgeon and physiatrist who both said nerves can regenerate over time at the fantastic rate of 1 millimeter per day..... so they said "give it a year, and we will see if you notice improvement in the lower legs. NOPE. Numb. But, I can handle that if I have decent pain management which is surely the case with my Boston Scientific. I feel blessed. I use a cane to walk due to total lack of propreoception in the legs. I do not feel the ground.

So, Alberto, the answers are generally applicable to your situation as far as pain management goes, and those nerves..... well, as my doctors told me, just wait ans see whether they regenerate after we remove the problem causing the issues in the first place. That began in 2006. I am still waiting.

Blessings on you my friend,
Others will chime in with their experiences,
Prepare to be bombarded,
All the best,
Mark56

I see you've started a new thread - I'll bombard you over there

It's great to have you

Rae