stay in hospital first night

Not sure what an SCS implant is but... they can't make you leave if your pain ...or if you ask to stay.

 

   Dear Rena,

 

     I sure hope they keep you over night. The idea of you having one implanted for an outpatient procedure is VERY frightening to say the least!!! And yes, I would think the hospital would be able to control you pain rather well. But, please keep us post about how you are doing! You are in our hearts here.

 

*hugg*

  dani

Can you give more details about what unit you're getting & what kind of leads you're getting implanted? Some SCS implants need to be monitored for a period b/c they are more major surgery. Other implants are very minor & you can be released about an hour post-op (without sedation) or a couple hours post-op (with sedation).

take care,
frances

PS -- Based on other experiences (I did SCS with leads, no paddles, without sedation & was released 60 minutes post-op), the hospital people are not always wonderful at managing pain. Some are, others are lousy. I've gone to the hospital 3 times for severe pain (1-2 weeks stay each time) & one time they took great care of me, one time they were only slightly better than my normal pain level, and one time they accused me of all sorts of things & wouldn't even let me take my normal amount of medication. That last time they couldn't understand how someone could be in pain sitting or standing, but be fairly quiet about their pain while lying down. Obviously they had little to no training in how nerve pain works.
If you have to stay for monitoring, that's totally different; to stay just because you want better pain relief may or may not work out for you.

Post Edited (Frances_2008) : 7/30/2010 3:57:43 PM (GMT-6)

OMG Rena,

I am so sorry that you are going through this much pain to find pain relief. I had thought about asking my PM about an SCS, but I never want any more surgery that is not ABSOLUTELY necessary. I understand wanting to try almost anything to relieve pain, but you have given me an insight to what I do NOT want to do.

I feel so bad for you right now and I hope things improve very quickly!

well today is sunday, august 1, had my scs implant july 23. i did not think that i was going to make it, however, today i think that i am getting a little better. i am sooo sorry that my post about my pain was kinda rude, but at that time i was ready to give up. yes, with my blood pressure 85/47, they should not have released me until my levels came up to normal. my doctor told me on wednesday at his office that he told the hospital that he wanted me to stay in until monday. However, the nurse told me at 6 am the morning after surgery that my insurance would only let me stay for 23 hours. my doctor was beyond furious. he said that he will be contacting the hospital and report the nurse that told me to go home. my doc was out of town for the week-end so his PA released me, he told me to wiggle my toes, gave me my Rx's and that was that, he never once checked my blood pressure. when you are on a pain pump in the hospital, you feel pretty good, not a lot of pain. i was walking down the hall, went to the bathroom by myself and even got dressed. ( amazing what a pain pump will do for you). my doctor told me that they should have taken me off the pain pump and had given me my drugs orally to see how i was. if they had down that, i know that i would have stayed in the hospital until monday like my doctor wanted.

so, thank everyone for listening to me complain, but sometimes we all need to vent.

my family has been amazing and i am very blessed for them.

good luck to everyone and i am sure that my next post will be a little more cheerful.

thanks,

rena