Hi all,
I just had to let you guys know about a wonderful thing that happened two days ago. After being miserable for the last several years with very bad lower back pain,
I am now pain free!!! That's right, PAIN FREE, just like a switch was flipped. For the last few years my lower back has been giving more and more pain. From a combination of arthritis and stenosis, I've been unable to stand for more than a couple of minutes. This of course means no walking around etc.
Thankfully there was only pain when standing, in other words when the "weight was on the wheels" but this has left me unable to do much around the house or to really go anywhere. I used to look forward each year to PPE in NYC but that was out for me. I've been taking the usual prescription painkillers but as you build up a tolerance that becomes less and less effective. It had gotten to where I was on 5 pills daily but still couldn't stand for more than a few minutes. The usual steroid cocktail injections and nerve ablations were not of any help either. My pain Dr. suggested a trial of the
BURSTDR spinal stimulator. This is something along the lines of the TENS system but in this case electrodes are implanted directly in your back and connected to a small pack worn outside the body. This is done under general anesthesia, when you're awake a tech will calibrate and setup the pulses etc. that the unit delivers. When it's set right you do not feel any tingling or unpleasant effects. There is a bit of discomfort where the incisions are made for the leads to be inserted but this is minor. After a 10 day trial period the unit is removed and then it is implanted like a pacemaker. The battery will need to be replaced every 5-7 years. There is an iPod that goes along with this to be used a an on off switch for the device and to change the stimulation patterns or strengths, if needed. Guys, I don't want anyone to think i'm just shilling for the company here, for me, this is a Godsend and I'm sharing this in the hope that others may benefit from my experience.
I was concerned that a post of this type might not be appropriate so I ran it by Josh before posting. If anyone wants to discuss further you can PM me and we can take it off forum.
Thanks so much for reading this.
UPDATE:
This past Monday the trial device was removed and I am scheduled to go for the permanent, implanted, unit on March 15th. As soon as the device was turned off prior to removing the leads I could feel the pain returning. It appears that recent advanced in battery tech have negated the need to recharge the unit and instead a battery with an approx. life of 6 years will be used. As before, if anyone has questions feel free to PM me.
Final Update: Well gang it was permanently installed on 3/15 and I just had the staples removed today. In my case there were 21 surgical staples used on 2 incisions. One incision was to place the leads in my spinal area and the other was to make a pocket for holding the device and its attendant battery. The implant procedure was carried out in an outpatient surgical center and I was out for it.
As expected, there was some pain in the incision areas but that was handled by some prescription meds and was mostly gone after about 3 days or so. They spent some time afterwards getting the device programming set and I now have an iPod to control or adjust the functions if necessary. As with the temp one, this has removed about 80-85% of the pain I was felling in the lower back area. It's now up to me to get myself into some kind of shape as, due to the pain I've been experiencing over the last years, my walking has been very, very, limited and I need to build my legs as well as my breathing back up.
I do have a picture of the incisions taken just prior to the staples being removed. If anyone cares to see it please PM me. As before, you may also PM me with any questions.
That's it guys!
