The most important thing to remember, and I mean it about your frolic down on the sand or near the pool....... IS.......... sun block. Forget about the stim. Leave the remote in a secure place in the room, such as the room safe so it is still there when you return.

Airports.... take all electronic stuff, even your remote and place it in one of the bins. My experience has been they do not even want to see the magic cards that tell all about the implant. You just remind them you have one before going through the scan, and to tell the truth, once I declared it thus, if the airport had a "puffer" scan device, the radiation is so slight, it is as though it did not happen [I hope someone enjoyed my late middle, or is it early late life bod]. Airports without puffers have done a pat down and wanding of me and send me my way, and I have flown many times since become robotic, or is it bionic, or is it distrophic, or radiculopathic, or maybe, just maybe..... hysteric, as in Frankenstein.... there we go...... ah, ha, ha.....

On aircraft when they say turn all electronics off, I leave mine set to a comfortable setting and leave the remote put away. Airlines have no understanding about this issue, and to tell you the truth having ridden corporate aircraft about 100 trips, I had even found my old palm pilot with the extendable antenna held next to the window could send and receive messages..... pretty cool, eh? I asked our chief pilot "so tell me about those interferences you get from my phone" and he laughed. He knew of a reg, but in reality one was not going to do harm, 300? That could be another story.

Anyway, my rationalization for leaving the stim on in flight is, why endure agony when I no longer have pills as an alternative...... and I have never seen a flight attendant walk up to a passenger and ask them to switch off a pacemaker or an implanted defibrilator...... get the idea?

So go, enjoy, get a tan, don't worry about the implant, and travel safely.
Prayin for ya,
Mark56

Everything was fine with each trip through security in the airports, in both the US and Cozumel, which was nice. In the US both times I went through the body scanner. The small airport in Cozumel didn't have one, but everything was ok there as well. That was a relief

I actually did get a pretty bad sunburn on the tops of my feet, Mark, despite being very faithful with sunscreen. Fortunately I don't have RSD there and everything seems to be ok now, save for the purple areas on my feet. And my trip was really wonderful and relaxing!! I also got to go ziplining, rappelling, and swimming in a cenote, an underground cave, and they were all so much fun.

Another question about have 2 stims: how does the programming work with the remote? Do you just have one remote or two? I also wonder if it's different with different companies.

I'm strongly leaning towards trying the 5 day stay in the hospital first because even though the odds don't seem to be in its favor, it seems like it is at least worth a try before I go with the much more invasive and permanent option.

I have two SCS's, both implanted at the same time. Was in and out of the hospital the same day. Have two remotes, so have one labeled so don't get them mixed up.

When I had my trials, I had each one done in the doctor's office and went home for five days. No problems other than making sure nothing got caught on the wires and they had put massive amounts of tape to make sure the leads wouldn't be accidentally pulled out. Then went back to dr. office to have trial removed. The difficult part was letting them take them out the trial as I'd loved the pain relief I'd gotten and I knew it would be weeks before I'd get the permanent ones put it. By the way, the trials were not done at the same time...the lumbar trial was done first and then the cervical trial was done about a month later.

Good luck!

Glad you had such a great time on your trip!

When I had my 7-day trial, it was performed at the surgical center and I went home the same day...it was removed in the dr's office. I had one trial and it was on my left side, I was bummed at first about that but then I realized that it was a great comparison. I could really see how it was helping my left side and could compare it to the pain on my right side. I have SJM SCS's, and have two remotes (labeled both of them). When they were both implanted, it was an overnight stay in the hospital.

Nanc

Thanks, I figured it would be the two remotes. If only they weren't so bulky, it would probably be much easier to fit both in a pocket!

At my doctor's appointment yesterday, I told him that I wanted to try less invasive treatment first, so we discussed the epidural infusion. He thought it wouldn't be worth it to do the five day inpatient one, but rather to just skip to the 6 week outpatient one. I did this for my knees, and all the memories flooded back of not being able to shower the whole six weeks, not being allowed to drive, being lightheaded and sleepy from the narcotics, having to carry the pump and IV bag with me everywhere, having a home health nurse visit twice a week to change the bag, having to go up to the doctor's office once a week to have the dressing changed... Needless to say, not a fun experience and as soon as it came out- my pain was back and bad. Of course there's no way to know if it will help my wrist this time, but the short-lasting relief from the blocks I had doesn't seem to bode well, and my doctor hinted at this as well. Nonetheless, I scheduled the six week tunneled epidural catheter procedure for May 17th.

I haven't been feeling good about this decision, though, because I just feel like with a low chance of the infusion working, and with it being a long 6 weeks of treatment, that I'd likely just be prolonging the inevitable, which would be getting the 2nd stim. I also have all of the timing to think about, as I do start graduate school in the fall. So I'm thinking it's the more practical decision to just try the stim. I'm hoping I can call my doctor's office and they can just switch the procedure I'm scheduled for to a trial stim placement. Does anyone know if I'd have to go through a second psych eval? I was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to a second implant in my body, but the bottom line is that I want to be in less pain, so I can deal with it.

One more question as well about a cervical stimulator, how do you charge it? I use the belt for the lumbar one (although I'm going to order the adhesive patches and try those as my rep thinks it'll make a difference in my charging).

This is a huge decision you are faced with. I'm sure with your faith, God will lead you to the right choice. I'm afraid I probably won't be much help on this, but I do care, so I'll just send a prayer and a (((HUG)))

Our fellow 'DUAL-buzzing buddies' will be right along and give great input.
We never fail one another here.

God Bless!

Rae

Hey Yellow!

Sounds like you have some big decisions to make, and I am sure you will find the right path for you.

I am not sure if you would need to have a second phsyc eval, seems like you wouldn't need it since you already had one and a stim implanted.

Regarding charging the cervical stim - my batteries were both initially placed in my hip/butt area (one on each side), my thoracic battery was moved to my front side when they changed those leads since it was bothering me. The cervical one is still in the back. I use a belt to charge them...it's adjustable

Wishing you the best,
Nanc

Hi Yellow

I've used the adhesive patches for a few months and the work great. I had a difficult time recharging to the full three bars using the adjustable belt. Give them a try I think you'll be happy you did.

Good luck with your decision.
Sandy

Thank you all, I appreciate it. It is a difficult decision because the treatment is such a trial-and-error process. But I feel like this is the most practical and logical decision, at least. And I know that when the trial is in place and I'm (hopefully) feeling the relief, I'll be all good with it all.

I talked to one of the nurses who said that they can switch the surgery for the date that I have booked, which is good to hear. But I do have to meet with the psychologist again, I guess because of insurance protocol. I don't really know what I'd say differently, and certainly I know what to expect even more the second time around, but I'll go through the motions. Hopefully I can at least skip the test.

And Sandy, it's good to hear that the patches work well for you. I can't get to the three bars either, and I think part of the problem is that the belt gets loose while it's on. So this should keep the charger aligned correctly