Originally Posted by Rrae

Wow! You're getting one that allows you to get an MRI, how wonderful! Boy, technology really does move right along.
You brought up a good question regarding replacing the battery and whether or not it will be compatible with the older generation electrodes.

Rae
BTW, I bet you have enuf posts to be able to post that link. If not, you soon will be.

Originally Posted by tkayewade

Wow, Tessa, daily?! I have a different kind so I can't say for sure, but that seems like a lot.

I charge my thoracic, which I use at a much higher frequency about once a week and my cervical about once a month.

I will say before my revision I was charging my thoracic two to three times a week. I just had it cranked super high to feel relief. Sems like the battery might have a problem, though. I had a battery surgery. It was pretty easy compared to all the other surgeries I've had.

I agree that they work so great in bringing pain down. My scs usually cover my arm and leg pain. Unfortunately, my rsd is systemic. I'm just glad that some pain is covered which is better than none. I hope your battery issue resolves itself soon!

My daughter's name is Tess, so I love your name!!

TK

Originally Posted by zookester

MessyMark,

Forgive me, I hadn't realized they came out with a newer battery just yet. That is pretty cool.. wishn' I had gotten that one!

Wishing you the very best.. and slightly jealous of your new way cool technology!
Tessa

Originally Posted by MessyMark

I'm looking for those of you that have had a scs by medtronics installed recently I would like to pick your brain if you don't mind.

Here is a little background on myself.
More than 20 years ago I fell 40 feet from a rooftop hit the ground and bounced about 2 or 3 feet in the air I was told. After about 45 minutes or so I was able to get up with some help of course taken to the hospital x rayed for broken bones and they found nothing supposedly.
Fast forward 20 years.
I had enough of the pain and back problems such as back would go out and would take about a week to 10 days before I was able to move properly again.In May of 2009 I went to see a nuero doc told him everything that happened 20 years ago and all the problems I had been dealing with since. He immediately set an MRI up that day for me it was on a Friday and Monday at lunch time while I was at work he had called and said he found my problem and needed to see me as soon as possible told him I could see him after work today. I was working in a factory here in western pennsylvania and the job required a lot of heavy lifting it was working with large sheets of steel this was in 2009 and layoffs were very prevalent at the time and I had been informed I was going to be laid off this was right after I had met with my doctor. I went into the office at work and told them I would take an early layoff because I needed to have surgery anyway. I was laid off at the end of the week and had surgery the following week.
When the surgeon went into my back it was worse than he thought I had been living with a ruptured disc for 20 yrs at L4-L5 and it had been like that for so long that calcification had formed on one of the nerves my to left leg which he had to cut away. Surgery went well and a couple of months went by and I went back to work but this time I decided to put my CDL back into use and found a small trucking company privately owned and was doing really well.
Then the morning of December 28th 2010 I was getting ready to go back out on the road after being home for Christmas Vacation My wife had taken me and my luggage to the truck and I was on the top step of my tractor trailer and my wife was passing me my last duffel bag of clothes and I slipped on some ice that had formed on the top platform where I was standing and fell to the ground onto my right side. Instantly I knew I had re injured myself I had pain in and around the surgery site radiating down my left leg. My wife helped me up off the ground she reached in and shut the truck off dialed my dispatcher from my phone told him what happened and that she was taking me to the hospital were my surgeon worked so he could take a look at me. She then called my doctors office who paged him and he met us at the emergency room he had already arranged for me to have another MRI as soon as I got there. After reviewing it he came in told me I was going to need another surgery I had reinjured the same area but this time it was pinching some nerves. Post op 2010 I did not fair so well. Was still having a lot of pain in my lower back at L4-L5 and down both legs at times .
I have tried facet injections,water therapy,regular therapy,nerve blocks,steroid injections the whole gambit of things that doctors want you to try before they tell you that there is nothing else they can do for you and send you to a pain management office . Since then I also have been told I will never drive truck again and had to turn in my CDL . I was put on disability. Then I met Dr. Zimmerman of the pain clinic we had been over all kinds of different drug's and most of them do not work if they do I look and feel like heroin addict and told him I will do without. So he finally suggested a medtronics scs device but up till now I was not able to do anything about it because my disability insurance had not kicked in because I had not been on disability for 2 years at the time. As of June my insurance kicked in and he brought up the scs device again for me . So in September I am scheduled to see doctor down in Pittsburgh at upmc to set up a trial. I would like to know how your trial went ? and if you decided to have the implant down permanently? if so how has it been compared to the trial ? I'm sure I will have many questions if you don't mind ?

Thank you for taking the time to read all this.

Originally Posted by stressedout

I have a Medtronics SCS since March 1, 2011. It works amazingly well and has taken 50-70% of my pain away (depending on the day). Yes, there are still days that are difficult but before I felt useless, couldn't work, concentrate etc. Now I am back in college full time, work as a substitute teacher and have been gaining pieces of my old life back. It's hard, I am a middle aged woman with 3 teens and a husband that just does not "get" my struggles. I would go for the trial first and go from there.