as many of you know, i've had my stim off for about 8 months. i started seeing nathan miller instead of joshua prager ( were not very happy with him at the moment, he has the WORST bed side manner i've ever seen, and i've had this 8 years) i've went to prager in MAJOR flares, as many of us have, and he just looks at me and asks what i expect him to do.
i went and saw miller in a flare on monday, and he gave me sprix, an injection, and wants to try to reprogram my stim.
after having to reset it mulitiple times we finally got it up and running, yay! i was afraid the battery was gonna be dead for good.
i go in today at noon to try to have there med tronics rep reprogram the stim, last time it was on, i felt like i was getting shocked. but according to prager " there was no way it was a shock, just a gentle sensation"
anyway sorry for going on and on. my question
if this reprogram does not work, we are going to have the SCS taken out, when we talked to prager about this. he said he would only take the battery out ( left buttock) but would not take the leads out. when we brought this up to miller he said he would take the battery pack and the leads out.
i want to hear stories, good or bad, about SCS removals. did your dr. take the pack and the leads out? how was the recovery?
thank you for listening to me rant.
have a good day guys!

Thanks for the update! I was wondering how this was going for you.

Boy, this Dr Prager sounds like a peach.

Well, my HOPE is that you will be coming here with good news, that the programming worked and that you aren't getting those shocks. (gentle sensations according to Dr genious)
If it goes the other way, tho I sure understand you getting it removed, even tho it's a real bummer. I know your battery pocket has really been bugging you lately. We put so much hope in these and I know what a letdown it can bring.

There are several here who've had them removed and they'll share their support.

I wonder why he won't remove the leads?

Please let us know how this goes when you're up for it.
My heart is going out to you and prayers are being lifted....

Caring,
Rae

I wonder if scar tissue covering the leads might be an issue making the removal of the leads more difficult?

Ger

Ah yes, Ger I bet you are right! Didn't even cross my mind!
Thank you!

tmullen

I had the shocking pain also and it was the worse pain one could imagine and it just so happened the remote quite working and we were unable to get it shut off for some time.

I had so many problems with mine 3 surgeries in as many months they wanted me to try again and use the paddles all I could tell them was,"just take it out"...

I can't say about having it removed after having had it in as long as you have, I think scar tissue may interfere with removing the leads..

However I wish you the very best of luck however it goes..

Linda

When I had my two SCS's put in, I asked about removal, if necessary. The dr. who put them in said he doesn't do removal as it would require the more delicate work of a neurosurgeon due to scarring in of leads and other possible removal issues. Could be why getting contradictory statements about removal. He did imply that it would all come out, not just the battery pack.

Have heard of folks who just keep theirs in their body, and just leave them turned off forever. Downside to that is no ability to do MRI's if needed.