Hi Everyone,

I just joined the forum and I have been reading the various posts by everyone.
I think that my case might be very similar to that of Sandy Kay.
I live in the greater Los Angeles area and have suffered from chronic pancreatitis since my gall bladder went bad and was removed in 2004,
I suffer from Chronic Pancreatitis, Sphincter of Oddi and Crohn's disease.

My digestive system is a train wreck.

Surgeries, and Procedures, only give me relief for so long. I have relied on pain medication to manage my pain.

Due to the aforementioned, I have been on a feeding tube since March 18, 2013 when they shut my pancreas and stomach down.

The docs were hoping that within 6 months I would be able to eat again with no pain; however, that was not the case. I have lost 60 pounds (which I did not need to lose - I could have lost 10 to 15 and been fine) and I have no energy or any quality of life since being on the feeding tube.

At this point, my doctor referred me to a colleague of his who is a pancreatic surgeon who is trying to think outside the box and he referred me to the pain management group.

The pancreatic surgeon told me about a pain pump, so I did a lot of research about them and found many articles that discussed it's use for the treatment of pain associated with chronic pancreatitis. However, when I visited the pain management center, the physician brought up the use of a spinal cord stimulator in addition to the use of a pain pump. He seemed to be in favor of the SCS hence I started doing research about their use in the treatment of pain assoiciated with CP.

I have not had much success finding many articles about this treatment of pain from CP.

Then I ran across the NEUROTALK site and the posts of Sandy Kay.

I would like to learn more from everyone and also speak or email with Sandy Kay about her experiences as they seem very similar to my own.

I am scheduled for the first epidural relating to CP in the next few weeks to see if I will recieve any relief.

Thanks for listening and I will be attentive to this site.

Regards,

Richard

Welcome to the forum! Glad you found us
I'm so sorry for all these struggles you've been facing. You've certainly come to a great place for support tho!

In looking at Sandy's visitor page, she hasn't been logged on here since August. I'm sure she'll check back eventually tho.

Since your situation is rather complicated and involving internal organs, I'm real sketchy on knowing much. You seem to have good doctors and I'm sure they are looking out for your best interest.
I know that there are those who have had success with SCS for internal pain. The SCS effect would be a stimulation feeling. I describe it as being like a cat purring . The only way to know if this would be something you could tolerate of course would be to do the trial implant.

The pain pump has been very effective to those who have pain dispersed throughout the body, rather than pain that is more localized to a certain area. Here are some references to posts that other members have shared regarding the pain pump.

Pain Pump member references:

Here is the testimony of Bobinjeffmo's pain pump:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post701979-14.html

Here are some post references, both good and bad, to hopefully give you a realistic array of experiences:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread144925.html

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...945#post841945

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post778075-7.html

Another thing you can do is use the "Search" feature near the top of the page in the bar that runs across the screen (3rd option from right). Type in 'pain pump' and it will bring up prior posts and discussions on these.

Many doctors prefer the SCS over the PP because the PP requires getting refills on a regular basis. When I asked about a pain pump, My doctor said "I don't do the pumps because that would mean we'd have to be 'married'

It's not unheard of to have both a pump AND the SCS. It sounds like this is what one of your doctors is contemplating.
There are several members here who have 2 SCS's to get a broad range of coverage.

There's lots to think about. Lots of questions too! so feel free to ask anything at all. That's what we're here for.

Rae

Hi RRAE

Thank you for the great response.

I really appreciate the time you took to compose it and provide me with a list of links to search.

i wil do the research tomorrow and if I have any questions, I will ask them. I am sure there will be many questions.

Thanks again.

Richard