Dear Blessed Dee 29 June
 

I realize now my gig from last week interfered with my desire to cheer you on in person here with your Trial, and I thus now write in hopes your Trial did occur with tremendously positive results. Oh, how I so very clearly remember standing in the great room of our house of the time... just standing there, taking stock on about day 3 of my 7 day Trial back in 2010, when Cleo asked "how are you feeling?"

She had so been hoping for a means to better manage pain for me, had been hanging on my every word, indication, moan, wondering would this provide a positive answer. Such a blessing she is in supporting me through this whole seven year affair of wreck, injury, pain, weeping, agony..... So here I was, standing in the great room, looking at her and I began to weep tears of JOY, untempered, whole being, filled to overflowing JOY!!!! Choking on my tears, I shared with her I felt NO PAIN!! None, and this the result of the manipulations of the Boston Scientific Rep, Mike, who through my twilight daze of anesthetic had prompted me to respond to his queries regarding stimulus as he programmed the Trial device for me.

JOY!!!!!! Then I knew there could be release from the prison of pain via a smallish electronic device trickling current to my spinal cord spaces. I had originally feared the very notion of having some foreign body stuck within me letting loose with its electrical current. All of those fears were immediately and completely washed away by the tears of Joy.

Now two years post op with my permanent Boston Scientific Precision Plus SCS device Programmed by MOI, I do not think I could be happier with a result than this. The pain of my lumbar spine and legs is easily handled without any pain medication due to constant use of my spinal cord stimulator. May it last until the day I pass without need for replacement!!

I am reminded back in the days of our early marriage when we scrimped to purchase a little upright freezer from Sears, a store with reliable products and no need to worry about purchasing supplemental warranty coverage. Such days were those, and that little freezer is still in use in our home almost thirty-nine years later!!! Incredible!! Maybe my stim from Boston Scientific will continue to address my low back pain and leg pain management for 39 years...... should we start a pool? Wouldn't THAT be a fun issue to follow at one of POOH's World Famous BBQ Parties at the ranch out in Nowhere? Whaddya think? Can I dare keep this little butt buzzer running until I am 95??? Sears has surely done it with their little freezer. Gee, we should tell them of it and its continuing functionality..... could be worth a LOT of cashola for advertisement purposes! Yup.

So Dee----I am praying your Trial went as well, and that your stim will be implanted and provide relief as surely as mine and Coral Toe's has, for we are BOTH self programmed Boston Scientific patients with extreme satisfaction.

Blessed am I,
Mark:grouphug:

Your 'test drive"!
 

Hi Dee,

Hope your trial has gone well and the stimulator is blocking the pain for you! How exciting that you're at this point! And thanks for asking so many questions that I have also had, as I'm just a few weeks behind you in this process. Watching you go through this with so much courage helps me to be just a little less nervous about the whole thing.

This forum is indeed a great place to find answers, info, and support from others going through similar "adventures". I'll be hoping and praying that the SCS works wonderfully well for you!! Keep us posted!

Hugs,
Jan :hug:

Always filled with Hope and Prayer 7 July
 

Praying for all who here are known and some who come but have not posted that all find among these threads the information, inspiration, hope and comfort there are many who have walked these pathways with myriad experiences both highly successful and some less so, who have much to share.

I have felt now for two years the blessing of my Boston Scientific Precision Plus SCS with its electrical wave descending from its paddle positioning in my mid-spine to help both my lumbar area and my legs both of which had been overcome by spasm and hellfire burning nerve pain which dominated my life.

Now, I repay the kindness shown me in the receiving by writing here where people may come freely to know what we have to offer, compassion, love, hope, experiences more than numbers can count.

I am blessed in this netsphere, and here I hope others find blessing for their needs.

Continuing in love for all,
Mark56:grouphug:

17 July as Pages Turn
 

When pages turn, often a new chapter is found within the confines of a published work of literature. Here, there is nothing new to the recipe, mere details cast upon a keyboard to be shared as fodder for the mind, nourishment for those still on the path to attain management of circumstance.

Recently, I made a Sunday morning 911 ride via ambulance to a local vaunted and NEW establishment of care for the physically ill, the needful, those who find fear among theirr emotions as they wonder what may lie next. I had awakened to a morning filled with resolve to write, and write I did, penning a note or two here and there on the threads.

Then, the unexpected occurred. Not two days after my outpatient surgery receipt of five steroid injections to the C6-C7 nerve roots, flooding all of the spaces which could be found with steroids intended to calm the inflamed nerve roots in hope of avoiding fusion surgery. Immediately, when I should have been getting ready for church, I began to stress about breathing. Drawing oxygen, that life giviing breath of air for the lungs became labored. My wheeze could be heard all of the way to our bedroom, where my wife became alarmed and came fully dressed saying she was taking me to the hospital.

I didn't wanna go, ER is always a disaster of confusion, people lost as logs in a logjam of needs. I did not want to do this. My wife became flustered with me. My labored breathing became worse. I began to fear needing a nice bottle of oxygen. I gasped 911, need oxygen, and she cut loose on the phone.

Soon nice firefighters who had better things to do on a Sunday morning were wheeling me out to an ambulance [I am afraid to ultimately see the bill] where an oxygen mask was indeed fitted to my proboscis and mouth. We were away. Not to my hospital of choice, but to the newbie nearer our home at my wife's direction. OK. She was in charge.

I was wheeled in, placed in a room, and tested for heart problems, lung problems, scanned, screened, bled [they actually had new leeches] and finally told..... well, I had a fever of over 102 and fluid in my lungs, but that was common in people of my age, and they believed it was steroids which had caused my breathing problems. Shuttled home I was before the morning lapsed.

Home. Where my fever rose, the family was concerned, the breathing was yet labored, NO I DID NOT want to return to the hospital whence I had emerged. So we packed me in ice and fought the fight of the feever until midnight. Family alarmed, Mark gasping for every breath, and we learned later, I had been sent home with post surgical pneumonia, AND Doc was surprised to see me for my doctor appt since I should have died Sunday night.

Died Sunday night. Those words can put a certain chill to the bone... or send shivers up the spine. So, I looked online to find the case of a local furniture magnate who had died a few years back after having similar injections and thereafter went into cardiac arrest. This stuff is meant to be taken seriously. Death from one of these episodes may onset from usually cardiac arrest, Leslie's grave filling problem, or pneumonia, the struggle my Doc knows in his heart of hearts the hospital dismissed me possessing. He wanted me overnight in the hospital under a Zpac. Nope, antibiotics, those are for seriously ill people!!!!

So, why write this now????? Because you may be a newbie reading the entirety of my journey from http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread117854.html to here and back again..... Because everytime you set foot or gurney into an OR you really ARE taking your life into a risk with mortality [I am prepared to meet my maker, are you?]...... Because people in ER situations after someone has been in an OR will make poor judgment calls based upon your presentation and send you home when they should keep you.

My Doc's words..... fluid in the lungs plus fever [mine was over 102] are suffering from pneumonia and they will near death in the next few hours. He was boiling angry when he learned of our weekend story. Then he told me I should have died, but for a robust immunie system. I reckon my work here is not finished.

Take your ills seriously. Force yourself on caregivers if you have fever and fluid on the lungs...... you never know, the life you save may be YOUR OWN.

Yup,
Mark56 and Blessed:grouphug:

Glad you're with us, Mark!
 

Wow, Mark...that's a pretty scary situation with that horrible reaction to the steroids! Sounds like the good Lord had His hand on you and wasn't yet ready for you to leave us. Thanks so much for the reminder of our own mortality. Makes me wonder how many times folks don't take their symptoms seriously enough, ending in death or severe illness after one of these procedures. Thank God for your loving wife who insisted on getting help!

Take care,
Jan :hug:

22 July Every Keystroke Brings Pain
 

Time for posting, and for sharing, folks ask why do you thus
because this is life, sometimes lived in the dust
can't always be smelling the hint of the rose
or seeing the stars up above glimmer bright in repose,
there are times when one must say, I hurt, for 'tis true
and we give truth to share more if others give ear,
I HAVE HOPE, and it springs forth with cold refreshing splash
because life is not just pain, but there are times we are glad!
I have hope this coming week to get an appointment at last
with my surgeon, he knows me, to discuss fusion's grasp
hoping there to be released from this pain and hurt
my heart has a smile at long last.

Yup,
Mark56:grouphug:

Mark,
Your strength and endurance never fail you. I am constantly amazed at your ability to stay ahead of that dark cloud. God has blessed you with WISDOM. You leave no room for the deceiver to gain a foothold because you constantly confess good things upon yourself and the situation you are in.
God LOVES your smiling heart. You leave Him much room to do His good work in you.
I can't recall you EVER letting doubt or bitterness creep into your circumstances. You've always remained true to God's word.
It takes a man of superior character to be able to remain positive every step of the way. And when you do cry, you cry unto Him and He cradles you and keeps you safe. He strengthens you.
You truly are a man after God's own heart..... a man like David, the originator of many psalms of the Bible.
You are amazing, Mark. I hope you can see yourself the way we do.

:hug:

I am so glad I found this forum (thanks, Google Search!).
Saturday (7/29) I start on my road with the SCS Trial.
Can't tell y'all how uneasy I am about this road. I could bore you with the details of my past 36 years dealing with chronic pain but, alas, my focus now is this procedure. I believe I have one of the better pain docs (she mentored under one of the nation's foremost leaders in SCS up in the Cleveland Clinic). However, I am also 100% sure she is doing a major 'downplay' of this whole thing. I read about the recovery from so many folks and I have to admit I'm dreading this part of it. If trial works then comes implant and I'm reading how hard this is. She tried to paint a, "Bounce right back!" kind of picture and I'm not quite buying it. How soon will I be able to drive? Will I ever be able to sleep on my back again? Will I ever be able to sleep again?? (LOL).

At this point I don't know if she's going with a Medtronic or the one that entitles this thread. I've read that Medtronic's new IPC is pretty top-of-the-line. I just want something that works but also gives me the least difficulty in adjusting to life as a cyborg!

Love the testimonies out here...nothing like believers helping to hold each other up (Gal 6:2).

I'll be in touch.

Welcome, Andy!
 

Hi Andy, and welcome to the forum! So glad you found us. I'm just a few days ahead of you in this process--had the trial leads put in yesterday (Boston Scientific). Today I'm kind of sore from the actual procedure, but the SCS itself is pretty amazing! I'm able to stand for longer than 10 minutes at a time without pain searing down my left leg....all I feel is a nice, mild buzzing sensation from my waist down. I hope and pray that you will find relief as well! Keep us posted, okay?

Sending welcome hugs,
Jan :hug:

Mark,
 

I reread your post. When I originally heard you had been given so many steroid injections, I was concerned. The ER was obviously incompetent; but still surprised with your being sent home after procedure without warnings of possible side effects with a heavy dose of steroids At least you would have been aware of the serious side effects possible and gotten in touch with your doctor immediately.

As you mentioned....".reckon my work here is not finished".

Prayers you have much more work to do here and are needed for quite some time.


(Gerry)