Great news about your SCS. Getting up to 80% relief-WOW!!!!!!!!! That is something to crow about. Lots of good research supporting SCS results with back issues. I have CRPS so the results are much less successful long term.

It sounds like you and your wife can really start to enjoy life now!!!!! Since I am just now beginning to do that after tDCS treatments to help with the setbacks caused by my SCS, believe me, you will cherish every moment!

Such good news about you wife being cancer free!!!!

I lost my remote and insurance did not pay for the replacement. I believe it was $1,200. Unfortunately about two weeks after I received the replacement my stim just quit working.

Hi Paul!
 

It's great to have you back! :hug:
You and your wife make a beautiful team. You've both been through so much. I'm so happy to see that she hasn't fallen into depression. I'm sure she has her moments, but you always seem to find the 'good' in any situation and that's a wonderful way of keeping ahead of the depression cloud.
Sounds as tho you are doing quite well with your unit. I'm so happy for you.

I can't believe these idiots charging that much to replace a controller :eek:.... as if the $100K + wasn't enough. Unbelievable.

Thanks for the update Paul - the rest of the crew will be glad to see you're back!

Rae
:grouphug:

Paul!!!
 

Welcome back Paul, and with a good report for yourself, may it be continuously a great help to you without interruption!

Praying for your sife regarding that condition which inhibits her healing. May God be with the both of you through all of this!

Prayin,
Mark56:grouphug:

P.S. Yes a replacement controller is a costly little item. I contacted my manufacturer, Boston Sci, and bought "insurance" at $195 per year on my controller, covers issues such as "stops working, loss, and the like." Anyway, I think so. Otherwise I keep that sucker right in my pocket at all times.

Bos Sci Precision Unit Turned On for 6 Days
 

This is my first post to this forum, for what that's worth.

I am a new user of the Boston Scientific system. There are more problems with my back than it's reasonable to enumerate, but no definite place that a doctor can point to on an MRI and say "There's where the problem is."

I had a spinal fusion (L4-S2) and if I thought I had problems before that I was naive. The fusion made everything worse. I spent a couple of years doing injections and RF ablations.

Finally went for the Bos Sci Precision system. Had the trial. I was impressed at the relief, but with that wire sticking out of my back the spikes in intensity were pretty intense.

The results were better than I expected. Before the wire was removed I estimated I had a 50% reduction. Once it was gone and the pain came back I revised it to 60%.

I went for the permanent and during the time between the trial and the permanent the scarring in my back became too severe for my doctor to find a route through the spine to place the wires.

So I had to have a second surgery and have a paddle electrode put in place.

With the paddle they waited a week to turn on the stimulator and started me with only one program. I've been using it for 6 days now and the relief is pretty amazing. (Knock on wood.) It takes awhile for the stimulation to become background noise that you can ignore, but I think I'm fairly lucky in getting good relief at fairly low levels of intensity.

The only post-operative problem I had was swelling around the battery. There was a lot of fluid buildup, so they delayed removing the stitches for the pouch another 5 days. It's still a little puffy but the swelling has just about completely gone away. Other than the actual incision being very sensitive to being touched (where "sensitive" means "hurts like hell") it didn't cause any problems.

Someone posted about doing their own programming. I didn't like the one program that was set for me, but I could modify the pulse width and frequency with my remote. I think my rep said that ability isn't always turned on, but he says a lot of things that are incorrect.

I played with different settings until I came up with a combination that didn't feel like the stimulation was pulsing at about 70 times per minute. It still pulses, but it's a lot smoother.

So if it doesn't work to your taste out-of-the box, make some adjustments. The controller can be reset to the default that the factory rep set if you forget the original settings.

I'm less than a week into it and barring any future problems I'm sold on this system. Boston Scientific is extremely responsive on the phone. I wanted my "Medical Device ID" as quickly as possible instead of the standard month or so. I called their support number and I got my card 3 days later.

Good luck.

WELCOME Glandheim!!!
 

So glad you are now experiencing relief from your Boston Sci!! How cool is that?

I am one of three of which I am aware have been allowed to self program with the rep looking over the shoulder. I provided four different programs for myself, and have never needed a tweak, a twack, or a revision surgery. It has been simply fantastic! May you find all ultimately to work out to the best for you, and enjoy testing your device to its limits carefully in tiny steps so as not to overdo it!

Any questions, send 'em my way,
Mark56:D:D:D

Hello Glandheim!!
 

Welcome Aboard! :hug:

Congrats on your new SCS! How thrilling to know you are getting such good relief! Isn't it amazing.
It's a good thing they did the laminectomy. The chances of your leads moving are much less.

Thank you for sharing your story! Stick around and keep us posted on your progress. The surgical pain will ease up soon.

It's great to have you here. We're a fun bunch and you're sure to get lots of good feedback.

Rae
:grouphug:

Welcome to the SCS Family!

I am the second one around here who is self-programmed....and it really is more than changing the magnitude and frequency of the pulse. Call up your ref and make a "programming appt" then sit down with him/her and ask if you can tweak the settings. It involves a computer, and your remote in a "cradle-like" connection. You can program annodes and cathodes through all 8 of the electrodes in both leads. you will be amazed at how varied the sensations can be. I went through and made 1 program for sitting, 1 for walking, 1 for sleeping, and 1 for reclining - mainly because my stimulation changed alot between the different positions. On top of that, each of those programs can have 4 sub-programs. They are not as convienient to change as the 4 "main" ones, but once set, it does give you the ability to tweak even more on a day to day basis as needed.

It has now been almost exactly 3 months since my permanent stim....and it has completely turned my life around. I am off of one of my two narcotic meds completely, and will soon start tapering the other. The one that I am off of (Opana) was a Godsend for pain control...but gave me alot of side effects. Now that I am off it, I feel as though I am waking from a bad dream. My mind is clearer...I am happy......I FEEL GOOD!!!!!! I have really started to notice this in the past 2 weeks - I almost feel normal. I never imagined the stim would be this effective!

Anyway - good luck with yours!

Heather!
 

It's SO good to hear from you again! :Head-Spin:

Congratulations on tapering down your meds! You and Mark both have such amazing testimonies. Why can't they all be like this.
Answered prayer strikes again.... Hooray!

Thanks for the update!
Rae
:hug:

Thanks Rae! I check these forums often, but have been bad about posting. I almost posted something in the thread where a couple people were claiming that SCS never works for CRPS....but didn't want to add fuel to the fire!

I also wanted to post my video....but I need my pain doc to "sign off" that it is OK. We are actually going out to dinner together with the Boston Scientific Rep, and are going to talk about setting up some sort of collaboration between the 3 of us to start and moderate a "ask the pain doc" website. I told her about this site, and Mark's crusade to all patient programming, and she was very interested :)

Yeah, that thread was not good. Totally uncalled for. I just feel so bad for Kelly that it happened to her thread. People come here for support. That hasn't ever happened here before.

Hey! This prospect sounds exciting! Please let us know how it unfolds. Anything that brings more patient awareness is a good thing!
Hat's off to you my friend! :cool: