Don't beat yourself up, Mark. Nerve pain is different from other pain and MUST*be managed. You can't*just "tough it out" until you are able to meet with your doctor. Flare ups could cause more damage. *Nobody here wants you to suffer any more than you already have.

Congratulations Jackey on your 30th wedding anniversary! * Wishing you 30 more years of happiness!

Thanks Rae for the warm welcome! *I am so fortunate to have found this forum! *

Jan, I am excited to hear you have been approved for your SCS Trial on July 24th!* I really hope that this works well for you! *I am looking forward to hearing how things go so keep us posted!

DEE is your name! And a pretty one at that...... I welcomed you by calling you DEB and I feel like a true idiot
I tend to be a couple cans short of a six-pack, as we say here in redneck country!

It's sure nice to have you here Dee. You bring a bright spot to our little neck of the woods and I look forward to getting to know you!

Rae

And me to, eh! Oh, no eh, Coral has me eh going eh! I eh can't eh stop eh!

Better to laugh, eh? Than cry today, eh, as I did today in my office eh,
This nerve pain is still the pits eh, even in the arm eh,
yup, eh,
Mark56 Noway........


Hurtin something fierce in this right arm. Many big thank yous for the prayers!

No problem Rae!! I knew who you meant! . I have a question about the stim implant. I have heard a loy of folks talk about "scarring in". That kind of scares me. Couldn't this put pressure on the nerves?

I do believe Mark has lost it!

Well Dee, in order to have lost IT, one must first have had IT, and since I do not know what IT is, perhaps I cannot lose IT.

Nah, I kinda went Canadian on Rae there for a bit. Scarring in. It is natural for the human body to scar. Pretty hard not to know how you scar if you have lived very long, for you may have met a nail, a knife, a piece of paper, or you may have known a scalpel cut on your skin from surgery. All produce scars. The notion of scarring in with the SCS is the reality of the hardware becoming secure within the body because the body will generate scar tissue enabling patients to ultimately be allowed more vigorous exercise and work; kinda like KZL_Rogue and her golfing and Tae Kwon Do after surgery.

Yup,
Mark56

Ah yes, our dear Mark......Eh....what can one say, eh?
He is so endowed with a sense of humor that I firmly believe we ALL would be lost out in orbit somewhere west of Neptune if it weren't for the laughter and lightheartedness he brings to this forum.
Gotta love it, eh??

Now, back to logistics, in keeping the fine balance necessary for functioning on a realistic level....

You indeed ask a very good question.
'Scarring In' is the process necessary for a successful outcome, as it keeps the leads safely secured to the dura within the dorsal column of the spine. Yes, it surely does sound a bit 'creepy', dunnit?
No fear, however. It's simply part of the process of healing. You will be lovingly nagged at by all of our caring members here, as well as your doctor to strictly follow the no bending, lifting, stretching, etc until your leads do have a chance to scar in. Take if from moi....as I somehow presumed I was exempt from such restrictions ..... yes? I mean hey. These things happen to other people....not me!
Well, I was back in the doctor's office with a migrated lead and it was at that point that I had the great revelation that these restrictions are for everybody and they are for a reason!

Now, scar tissue can be, and sometimes IS an entity which can work NOT in our favor. 'Revisions' become necessary in many cases, meaning 'tweak' sessions. The scar tissue can grow and press ever so lightly on a lead, which can change the stimulation. This would be a good thing to bring up to your doctor so he can explain these possibilities.
The unfortunate thing about scar tissue is that it is very unpredictable and it will have it's own way.
Thank you for bringing this up, as it is a very important issue to be aware of.
Try not to let it cause undo anxiety tho. Scars are a necessary part of healing wounds, as we all know from a minor injury or scraped knee. But when it comes to forming on the interior part of us, well... it's kind of a 'wait and see' thing.
One would certainly think that with our modern day high-tech modalities in the medical field, there would be SOMEthing that would keep scar tissue from becoming a nuisance.

We'll be right by your side every step of the way on your venture to a better form of pain management! No doubt we will learn from YOU along the way as well!

Rae

Not going to add one bit to Rae's post except.........

APPLAUSE!!!!!!!

Yup,
Mark56

Tomorrow!! See my pain management specialist to learn What was the discovery from the surgery two weeks ago today, then How he has in his mind it can be treated, because two weeks ago he told me the problem in my C7 space was definite, viewed absolutely, and treatable.

I am excited to learn. I want to leave this pain of the right arm behind. I thank God for helping us to this point, and look every forward to the blessing of the means to address this debilitating pain..... because Ger, I do not desire at all to be seen as easy pickins by the deceiver. Such a path I depend on faith in the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the blessing of she who bore Him to forever close such a path to me. I am God's.

Praying,
on knees,
Mark56

Things are really looking up for you Mark. In just a short time you have gone from fearing you had CRPS and being told that additional surgeries would be of no benefit to your arm to real hope!!!!! What a relief that you don't have CRPS and that you now have options.

I to have been blessed with hope. I hope to be back to work in the near future. I have been spending just about eight hours a day conditioning myself.

Now that tDCS has eliminated some of the symptoms that landed me in the wheelchair I have been building up my strength and tolerance for activity. I never would have believed this last January, but now I am tending a vegetable garden!!!!!!!!! Last week I transplanted some sun flowers that I had started in small pots. About 75 of them. I have planted them everywhere I find a space. Sunflowers are so cheerful and tenacious, and start out small but persistently quickly grow despite the heat and scorching sun. They represent my journey from recovering from the devastation cause in my body by the Boston Scientific spinal cord stimulator. Most people do not recover from spinal cord stimulator induced spreads of neuropathic pain and in fact, they become worse over time, losing more function.

Although I would not recommend a spinal cord stimulator to anyone who suffers from CRPS due to the high risk of spread tDCS may be an effective treatment for those CRPS folks who have had developed spreads from stimulators.

My family thinks I am a little nuts. At a family cookout I was being quizzed about why I didn't just plant four or five sunflowers. Didn't want to go there with the whole family so I just said, "because that is how many seeds were in the packets, pass the potato salad please."

Everybody here knows why I did it. Right????????

I understand exactly regarding the press toward challenge with your crop of Sunflowers..... HOPE and REALIZATION of a dewam to conquer what CRPS brought to your life. My return full bore to my profession has been the manifestation of God's Great Blessing coupled with a huge heap of determination on my part!

Last night after interviewing a new pro bono client whose home is at risk, my wife and I returned home from the grocer....... I was at end of my tolerance. All walls crumbled and I began sobbing from the relentless right arm pain. Both my wife and our daughter began to sob along with me as they wrapped arms around me. I had lost my resolution to BE STEEL.... pain won last night..this morning I am between 8 or 9. Gotta go to office, some thin steel back in my emotions, but the pain is SO present. Doc sees me in three hours time. Hard to wait. Typing lefty right now. Right arm gone in full pain mode.

I feel blessed, and looking forward to the appt, but my emotional strength to keep up the game face/the war face is ebbed. So tired. Ache so badly. Gonna make this and do my job. God carry me to the finish line today!!!!

James!!! You hold on to that steel and grow rhose sunflowers!!! God is present and holding our arms all of the way..... all of the way!

Praying for all of you today!
Mark56