Sulking on Sunday

I very rarely sulk. However, today I am doing that very thing. I am still in a LOT of pain and feel that the pain management physician either did more than he should have or that he did not prepare me for the amount of inflammation that he was going to stir up with the added injecting he did on Wednesday. I had a Girl Scout meeting yesterday. I went to it but by the time I had sat there for an hour I was totally miserable. I came home to spend four hours in bed in severe pain! This is not my idea of having a fun weekend!

I have done a lot of research on both the Spinal Cord Stimulator and the Pain Pump. The results of my research are that I should know pretty much immediately whether the SCS will help me or not. The SCS does seem to work better for the sciatic type pain, or the pain that runs down the hip into the leg and foot. The SCS may or may not relieve all of my pain. In some people, it took away approximately 40-50% of their pain or changed the intensity from sharp, burning, and intolerable to a dull type of ache that was much easier to live with.

The pain pump got really great reviews by those who were using it as well. They were able to use much less pain medication and got much better relief from their pain by using this method. The main issues I found with both products that could cause problems were issues with infection at the site of implantation and also possible migration of the leads into an area that they were not supposed to be in.

To work properly, the leads have to stay in place. To keep them in place, scar tissue needs to form around them. Physical activity is very limited for at least six weeks after surgery in order to allow the scar tissue to form and to keep the leads from migrating.

The SCS and the Pain Pump both require a hospital stay. The trials were mostly done via outpatient surgery. The main implantations were done and hospital stays ranged from overnight to 3 days. The battery packs were different as well. There are new rechargeable batteries available now that do not require later surgeries to remove and replace the batteries. This was one drawback to the earlier SCS implantation. The old batteries wore out after 12-18 months and required further surgeries to replace the battery.

They even have devices that are partially inside and partially on the outside. It is a lot to take in. I have also read that part of the decision will depend on how much energy or stimulation you will need as well. Certain modules provide more amps than others.

So is your head spinning now? I know that mine was when I first read all of this. However, I do feel better about talking to my pain management physician about the different options now. I know that I do not want to be in the hospital more than overnight. I hate being in the darn hospital!!!! I worked in one for over 10 years I know what can happen in those places!!! LOL!

OK, I will update when I learn more!