Spinal Cord Stimulator

[Cervical_Fusion]

Yes mine is there newest model. It is placed in y hip just right of my tailbone. it seems to be working great right now. They did caution me about bending and moveing and turning real fast. With the incesion pain i can not move or bend much or very fast. they said no lifting above my shoulders and no move than 5 lbs right now, until my follow up with the orth surgeon. I was very pleased with my dr as he did not give my any flack about doing it, as he prefers to do a fusion or anthing else first that will fix the problem instead of masking the problem. but for me ther was no other option and he saw that and realized that to. I slept with it on all night last night, no back or leg pain just incesion pain that i know will go away in a week or so. I believe I wil turn it off some today to try to save the battery as we have not discussed how to recharge it yet. as no recharge for the first 3 weeks because of infections could set up. and I do not want that. it has been 4yeas on comp to get to this point of the game. i do not want to f*%# it up if u know what i mean. One thing i have noticed is i sweat a lot more that i hd in the past. so i can see wearing lighter clothes this winter with it. They are going to refer me back to PM I am sure after my follow up and I hope the first meds to go will be the Duragesic patch, I could start weingin myself off but probably should wait untlll i see the ortho. I was awake a few times in the night having to fo potty and boy did i realize how much the muscle in the back are affected by a person getting up and down out of bed. Right now I love this thing and I hope it gives me many years of sucess, I will tell you the trial if different than the fianl implant as the leads on the trial are like spaghetti strings that just lie on the spinal cord. the final implant only has one lead and bone was taken out around the spinal cord to make place for the lead and it is actually mounted to the spinal cord. it has 16 electrodes that are actually touching the spinal cord where as the leads on the ecectrodes are all around the leads and all of the electrodes on them are not agains the spinal cord. I have rambelled on too much this monring. I just got out and walked down the street to the corner for my morning walk. He wants me to walk at least 3 times a day and each time increase the distance. So it will definately be a healing period. I am hopeing to be able to go to the beach for a week of rest and relaxation after my follow up in 12 dyas. Wich me luck gang.

[Still in Limbo]

I'm so Happy for You Cervical, and I Wish You All the Best!! I Wish I could have had the SCS, but My Scar Tissue Issue wouldn't allow it. Hopefully in the Future Something New will come for Me. I Hate My Meds,. also, I was on the 100mcg per hr. Fentanyl Patch for a Year, and because of the Scarring and Chemical Burns on My Stomach I had to be taken off of them. Now along with My 9 other Meds., I also have to take Methadone! Meds. are He**, but I can't Walk without them! My Very Best to You, and I Hope You have Many Years of Pain Relief!!

[AQA]

C_F, thank you for sharing the info. about your SCS. Mine is about a year old and will need to be replaced in about four years or I will decide not to have it any more. Only time will tell and chances are that I will have it replaced but I will have the leads repositioned so it is concentrated mostly on the back and less on the legs.

The issue of one lead is interesting. I have two leads with five electrodes each. The are stiched to the muscels of the back just to the right and left of the center of the spinal cord.

AS far as being concerned about using it to much because you think you will drain the generator (SCS). I would not worry about it. I have to recharge mine every three to four weeks. The reason they did not give you everything before you left the hospital is because they want the incision to heal. Once the bandages are removed, you can then recharge the unit at your convienece. You will get a belt, adhesives pads, a charger and a battery. ( Just a note, when the rep. gives you the rest of the items you may want to request extra batteries for the controller. If the rep. is like the one a see, they will have plenty to spare.) As I am sitting here typing this, I am recharging my generator (SCS). Anyway, once you have recharge the battery, you can either use the pads or the belt ( I use the belt ) to hold the battery in line with the SCS. My battery has an on/off botton. If it is on and is not lined up with the scs it will start beeping and will not stop until I turn it off or correct the alignment.

As far as my meds. go. I am taking hydrocodone, ambien and lyrica. I am not sure of all the areas of your injury. Mine is the lower back, left leg, left side left foot and loss of strenght left calf muscel. With all that info., hopefully that may give you some idea of where you may be in reference to med. changes.

Well that all the input I have for now. Other then to suggest you take the charger and battery with you when your on you get away to relax in the sun.

Take Care.

[Cervical_Fusion]

I to was suprised there was only one lead, but with 16 electrodes. Medtronics Rep said it is the newest. I have all the parts to charge it, just that she did not go over how to. In the charger bag there is of course a ac outlet cable. also a belt inaddition to some kind of unilt maybe a battery pack but it looks like the remote but a lot larger. She will be going over that with me on the 24th when I have my follow up wth the Ortho. It seems to be helping but that dams incesion pain is burhing like hell. which I know will go away within a week or 10 days. I do want her to set it so I fet more in my feet as by the end of my 10 hour day my feel are killing me...Only time will tell.Time for a pain pill to try to ease the incesion pain.

[AQA]

Be very carefull at the begining if you do that. You may find that you will get a false feeling in your feet while you are walking. I don't see that being an issue if you are on a flat surface. however, if you are not on a flat surface, such as stairs or walking across the lawn, you may not feel the difference in grade until it is to late and you fall. I hope that makes sence.

[Cervical_Fusion]

Today has still been a rouhg day of incesion pain. I have been doing a lot of reading of the manuals that came with it. I am learning how to recharge the recharer that recharges the battery in my butt. A lot of battery in use with a stimulator. I have eaten pain pills like candy today and this evening. But i can see each day is getting a little better. I am in Ohio and the winds ripped through here last night. We had 70 mile winds. Brought a tree down in my yard and remnants from 12 more trees in our yard. got up today and had to wade threw it just to get out to the street. Electric was off most of the night. I went for my morning walk and went around the corner and found a lawn care company there cleaning up a yard and asked them to come and do mine. as there is no way i could of cleaned up that mess and my wife would of been no help for me. SO getting that done was a relief off my shoulders. Guys dr did not give me a time frame to not be driving. How long should i not drive?

[AQA]

C_F, I drove that afternoon. It was a very short drive to the gas station and back to the house.

I am not suggesting anything here. I am mearly telling a story. When I had the trial SCS. I had an allergic reaction to the bandages. I had to replace them twice a day. The pain from the reaction is different from the pain of the incision. I do not recall the incision bothering me at all. But we need to keep in mind that the placement of the scs is different. Mine is located above the left rear pocket. where yours is placed makes better sence to me. Sometimes the waist band of my pants will cause some discomfort.

I think I mentioned this before. If you are going to drive or ride of, I will say more than ten minutes. You may want to place a pillow between the seat and the incision area. It will help absorb the vibrations. I recall I drove myself to the follow up to have the bandages removed and that was a thirty minute drive.

Take Care.

[Cervical_Fusion]

In 2 more days I get to remove the bandages from the incesions. It will be a great day as I will get to have my first shower since the surgrey. Looking forward to that. You people who have a SCS in did you have any issues after the surgrey with any muscles hurting. I have a muscle on the right side of my back that is killing me. I hurts most time from about my belt line up to the bottom of my rib cage. and this muscle pain is excrueating. I amy trying heat and ice on it this evening. Man this has got to go away. Also I went out today for a ride with the wife she needed to stop at Wal-Mart i forgot to turn of my stimiulator as I entered throuhg there EAS system I did not get a shock from it, but once inside this muscle strating hurting so bad that I told her I was going to go to the car. I had not brought in my remote for the stimulator. I went back out through there EAS system and again no shock from it. But I got to the car and was going to try to turn up my stimulator and when I tried my remote could not make contact with the SCS. I tried and tried and kept trying. Wife came back to car and I was still trying to make contact with it. Anyways she started car and headed home about 1/2 away from wal-mart the remote finally made contact with it. Any one ever have this happen to them? You nurses out there have any suggestions on what I can do to make this muscle thing stro hurting? If it continues hurting I guess I will phone the Orth as I do not see him untill Sept 24th.

[jayne]

I am following your progress and am green with envy like Limbo I scar to much for one of these handy dandy gadjets but would love to be off the pain meds I know they are messing with my tummy and liver

[AQA]

C_F, I went to wal mart today and played with mine while I walked in and while I was in the store. I was also adjusting it I walked out of the store. I had no problems with mine. Did you remote display an error code when you were having trouble with it yesterday??? If not, what was the battery level indicator?????