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Morphine Pain Pump Surgery Question

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Posted 6/3/2012 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
I'm so tired of this day after day pain trying keeping my spirits up and hoping and praying they get the trial approved soon for the pain pump. I would not wish this pain on a enemy if I had one.

I was told when they do the trial I'm in the hospital for three days then if it works they let my body heal up and put the main unit in after three weeks another two day stay in the hospital.

The doctor told me the surgery is not bad at all because there will be morphine being pumped in the back when I get out of surgery. Is this true? Would be nice not have a ruff surgery recovery for once.

Also any one have one can you tell me if it works good for a lower back injury? I can hardly walk to the bath room or kitchen just to get a cup of water or something easy to eat like a bowl of cereal because of the pain.

Sorry, I have not been on much my leg gave out two times last Sunday and Monday making my face the landing pad on the first fall then and fell trying to brush my teeth the second time I think I will stop tiring to be the superman and sit down and brush my tooth from now on. I have been hurting to much to do anything at all.

Thank you for your responses in advance smilewinkgrin
Posted 6/4/2012 12:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Pain, sorry to hear that you are having such a rough time. I have a pump and when I did my trial I was only in the hospital for24 hours. It really depends on your dr and what his protocol is for this. If the trial is a success then you will have to have a psych evaluation before the permanent pump is implanted. After that they schedule the actual surgery. I was in the hospital just a couple of days when my pump was put in. They make an incision in your back to place the catheter, it is fed around to the front more so on the side to where the pump is located, so two incisions, one on the back and then one on the upper side of your stomach. It took me a good 6 weeks to get back close to normal.

Yes, the pump can be good for low back pain. But, your pump is only going to be as good as the dr that is taking care of the pump. Your dr needs to have a lot of experience taking care of a pump patient and must know about the different kinds of medications that can be used in them. I can't have Morphine so I have a cocktail of 4 different drugs in mine. You will still have pain with a pump, it is not possible to be pain free unless your are a zombie on meds, I also use meds for BT pain sometimes, you will have spikes.

I do not know what brand of pump you will get but if you will go to Medtronics.com, they have a wonderful site that is user friendly and you can read all about pumps. Also, you can use the search feature here at the forum and read about them. If you have any questions please ask, if I can answer them I will. It usually takes about 6 months to get your dosage worked out so you will have to be patient, lol. Take care....Susie
Posted 6/4/2012 3:10 PM (GMT 0)
Thank your for the help in understanding it more it helps allot and eases some of my fears I'm one of those people that just don't like change unless it's a good change and still have to adjust to it.

I think he wants me in the hospital for 3 days because I'm over 3 hours from his office and the hospital.

He told me it will be a medtronic unit and confident he knows what he is doing he has been putting the pumps in almost the same time the FDA approved it.

As far as the psych evaluation I completed that and passed it about a month ago just praying the insurance will get off there tails and approve it so my attorney is working on getting everything setup for me.

God willing this will get approved soon and if the trial works get as much of my life back I can. Five years of this pain is to long if it does not work I don't know what I will do except exist the best I can for my wife and kids and pray something better to stop this pain is developed in the future.

Honestly I fight every day just to keep my self in good spirits and not give in I truly understand what my dad told me be before he pass away from heart and kidney failure. I will fight to keep going for my family and God but God knows I'm getting so tired and hard to look forward to the next day.

I will not just give up but sure you understand how hard it is. I'm to the point screw the job I just want to be able to leave this bed for more than ten minutes with out suffering or just sit in a chair with my family one evening would be nice I would even watch cartoons with the kids and beg them to stop diving me crazy just turn the TV channel to the nature channel please.

It's amazing what we take for granted until we lose what we had and know you my never get the chance to get back and things you would love to be able to do that will never be possible. Or think of things you wish you done but didn't because you never thought about what if I could not longer be able to and worried more about what others think you sure do.

Thank you for your help and God bless maybe this unit will at least give me the ability to attend church again I miss going.
Posted 6/4/2012 6:15 PM (GMT 0)
Pain, any CP patient deserves quality life, when you lose that you have pretty much lost your existence in my opinion. The pump gave me a lot of life back, it was a very long road for me because the dr that recommended it had no clue how to handle a pump patient. So, even with what he said would help me did not for two years after it was implanted. I was at the point of wanting it to be taken out. I have other health issues and he used those as an excuse not to ramp up the meds in the pump as it should have been, but there again is your dr that does not have a clue.

I got lucky, he decided to quit pain mgt and referred all of his 45 patients to a dr that only handles pump patients. She met with each patient prior to doing anything with our pumps and by the time she saw me she was absolutely floored at the shape I was in. She had reviewed a the prior year of medical records and could not believe he had made not one single change in the pump. She told me she really felt like he wanted to be a good dr and help people, and I agree, but he was just did not have he experience he needed with the medications used in the pumps and did not have a good grasp of what the pumps are capable of doing in relieving pain.

My meds have been more than doubled since I have been with her and she does believe in BT meds which is still a must. Is your dr going to let you have a PTM with your pump provided you have a successful trial? You really should get one, they can be programmed by your dr to give yourself a small bolus when you have pain spikes. My pump is an older model so mine did not come with a PTM. A friend of mine had to have a new pump put n last year, the battery died in her old pump and her dr let her have the PTM and she really likes it. Its like giving yourself small shot of meds, its really neat.

Keep us posted and hopefully you can get your trial out of the way. Take care....Susie
Posted 6/4/2012 6:36 PM (GMT 0)
I will ask about the PTM he didn't say how but said I will have a little control over the unit for break through pain he may have been talking about that I will ask.

I do have good news today they called and said the trial has been approved and they will have me in the hospital for two days next week for the trial. He said I don't want you just sleeping and enjoying the pain relief if it works. I want to see you walking the halls and I told if I can I will be running down those halls or walking as fast as I can.

I know and understand the point your talking about but I have been careful to avoid talking about it other than with my wife which keeps me from going crazy to avoid them just jumping on the chance to right you off as a nut case.

I seen them do that to a friend with a bad injury told a doctor how he really felt when he way in allot of pain but being a insurance doctor it turned into a big fight they put him through the ringer but he finally got everything back on track 3 years later.

When I found out about the trial I got a hold of my wife asap and text all my friends and family praying for me and thanked them.

I feel like there is finally hope around the corner.

Thank you and God Bless
Posted 6/5/2012 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
Pain it sounds like he is going to order the PTM for you and you will like it. My friend uses her PTM plus oral BT meds, she is really in bad shape even with a pump. From what I understand from her if the PTM is not ordered at the time of your implant then it will cost $1,000 out of pocket to buy one and insurance will not pay for it. But, if the dr orders it at the time of implant insurance pays for it and it costs you nothing.

I am excited for you having the trial scheduled. Yes, you do have to get up and do things and believe me if it decreases your pain you will know it, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I did my trial. I had not felt that good in years. Of course he reminded me that I would not be started out on that high of a dose too. They do start you out at the lowest dose and then increase the dosage over time, usually every two weeks. Do not be afraid to tell the dr if you are still having a lot of pain either.

Check out Medtronics website you will learn so much its a great site.......Susie
Posted 6/5/2012 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
I very excited my wife is also it's a wonderful to know there is final a chance to stop some or most of my pain.

First chance I get if this works I'm finding the closes door and getting some sun. Like I told my wife Vitamin D here I come.

I'm going to stay hopeful and very optimistic this will give me some of my life back. I wonder what Wal-Mart looks like after five years. :)

I have plans if God willing but I will also brace my self if it doesn't work.

Want to do list:
1.) Walk around the block
2.) Sit in a chair for more than 5-10 minutes without sever pain or having to be helped out of the chair
3.) Try to get my legs strong enough and if my nerves don't cause my legs to give out throw this cane in the nearest dumpster
4.) Go to the park with my kids
5.) Take my wife out to eat and a movie
6.) See if my garage is still in the back yard and piddle with something.
7.) God willing return to work even if I can't go back to my old job.
8.) I think I want to get baptist again if the preacher will dunk me. LOL
9.) And keep adding to this list and enjoy life again with my wife and kids.

I'm blessed to find this site and a friend like you thank you and God Bless going to go and check out Medtronics site now take care.
Posted 6/5/2012 2:37 AM (GMT 0)
I hope the pump can help manage your pain GOOD LUCK!
Posted 6/5/2012 4:06 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you I'm praying it will would love to reduce the 98% of time I have to lay in bed because of this constant pain.

Thank you and I will pray for everyone in pain to receive the pain management they need also. God Bless
Posted 6/5/2012 1:17 PM (GMT 0)
Pain, if your dr has the experience with pumps and the meds used in them there is a very good chance it will work for you. Now keep in mind with a successful pump you are still in pain, just not as much. You may not get to throw your cane away but who cares as long as you are able to walk for more than 2 minutes. I walk with a cane all the time, I have to. I can walk in stores if there is a cart for me to hang onto. I play with my 7 yr old grandson, but my life is totally different and I do things differently than before. In other words you have have to make a different kind of life for yourself and it is possible. I have the one grand child that means the world to me, he is why I keep going. Ever see anyone walk the plank on a cane, lol, we play pirates. I do gardening again limited, I cannot do much bending. I can no longer stand straight thanks to the old PM dr letting me go for 2 yrs in pain.

Something to consider after the trial and its a success and the final implant is done and you are totally healed is get in a pool. Join a YMCA if you have one close and not expensive. Just walking around in the water will help strengthen you. The beauty of water is you are weightless and cannot hurt yourself unless you try doing too much. Like I said just walking around the edge of the pool will help. Talk it over with your dr if its something you are interested in. If you have been down more than up moving around then you have lost a lot of strength and staying power and you start off slow rebuilding.

I was told if the pump gives you 50% reduction in your pain at the time of the trial it is considered a success. I don't know what your dr has told you about that.

Take care......Susie
Posted 6/5/2012 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
The Dr just told me he want to be able to see me walk better and help my pain as much as he can. I have to walk -.000000005 mph in that range and have to stop allot because of pain. Example I could walk 10 feet and 20 normal walking people could pass me by and made that same 10 feet before I finish the distance.

I know I'm on a high and clinging to the hope this works but also bracing my self if it does not work for me maybe that's just a message I am meant to receive something that works better in the future. I will except what God gives me but that does not mean I can't hang on to hope and glad your here to support me if it does not work when I fall emotionally I know my wife and kids will support and help me no matter the out come.

I love and miss my gardening I always had a large garden and even feed all my neighbors also now it seems they help me more than I can help them and tell me when I can they will help getting the garden started again I told them they can plant one and use my water I will pay for it no problem but no one has a green thumb but me and my wife and she is to busy with work, the house and kids so I'm not going to ask here.

I can bend either so I have a plan. I'm going to have a person come and section my garden area off with cinder blocks and cement them in maybe 3 or 4 blocks high then fill the areas with dirt so I can go out to the garden and sit on the block walls and work in the garden without having to bend to plant, work the dirt, harvest the plants, or weed. It will be like raised garden with walk areas and when I need to just sit on the block wall and have a lawn chair pad to sit on so i'm more comfortable and my tail won't get so sore.

I'm thinking of making it a giant U shape garden area with the cinder block walls and I can walk around to sit on the inner or outer side and a long section in the middle built the same way in the middle of the U shape.

I know I may never get to but I can dream pain can not take that ways from me.

There is a club that is private I can go to that has a pool which if this help will see about going.

The doctor talked about getting me a wind bike if this works. We have a treadmill already at home my wife uses but when I asked the doctor about trying it he band me from even getting on it. In his exact words I don't want you to even look at that thing or think about using it. In the future maybe be right now and no I don't want to have to respond to the hospital to knock you in the back of the head after your wife had to call 911 and the fire department had to pull your body out of a wall. He has a sense of humor but when he tell you something like that he expects you to listen. I'm blessed to have a doctor that really cares and does not care what insurance thinks. But the full thing is he is the insurance picked doctor and has taken care of me 150% of the time and always backs me.

I'm blessed and know it just wish I could get more of my life back and understand the life changes your talking about.

I think the hardest one for me is asking for help doing stuff or picking up my keys or a paper when I drop something which I seem to notice to more now because I can't just bend and get things any more. I have always been the family and friends rock they could depend on and it's hard to accept my changed role in life. I was raised the man of the family hold everything to gather and brings in the bacon no matter the cost or pain and I find my self in bed with chronic pain having to depend on them and in mt eye's I guess because the way I way raise feel like my disability check are just a form of welfare I would rather be working and contribute it my family even if it is on 1/4 of my income before my injure at least I would feel like I have some kinda worth or value to my family and others.

I know my family and wife don't see and understand but it's a really hard to change the way you were raised and live your life. It's like hitting a brick wall and you wake up hours later and the world has change, your body has changed and you who role in life has change with out any kinda warning.

Kinda like superman losing him power unexpectedly and know they will never return.

At least know I realized I'm not alone and there is a chance for a future and don't just need to survive from day to day just to made sure you don't hurt your loved ones doing something stupid. I love life and want to live it more than ever and will not willing just give up the gift of life God has blessed me with and everything that comes with it.

God bless and thank you for the ear. Take care
Posted 6/5/2012 4:08 PM (GMT 0)
Pain, I forgot all about raised gardening, you cannot believe the people I have met at the farmers markets that do what we call contained raised beds. Be sure to put the rebar in the cinder blocks to keep them from shifting, I saw a neighbor do something like this and did not put in any rebar and they shifted bad.These are people that do not have issues with their bodies, its just they are older and its much easier on the body. I do not have room in my backyard because of a pool. The rest of the room is all planted with shrubs and flowering bushes. I have two dogs that would dig up a garden if I had one. Before I got so banged up, I tried planting a small flower bed in the back and the next morning I went out to find everything dug up and all over my patio. The plants that I had sitting in big pots they got those too, it looked like everything had been put through a shredder. Now all of my flower beds are on the other side of the fence where they cannot get to them.

Do you know what a grabber is, if not, you need to spend a few dollars and buy one. We have three here at the house that my husband & I use all the time. Its a hand held device that you squeeze the handle and the end of it has pincher like end and you can pick up items off of the floor, socks, keys, shoes, papers and things like that. I even use one out in the backyard, lol. My husband has one in the garage. These can be bought at Walmart or pretty much any drug store. I have found them where they sell canes and stuff like that. Ours are plastic, the metal ones cost a little more but the plastic ones work fine, you need to get yourself one. We are real big on these things they are so handy, lol.

You mentioned work, I do not know how long you have been off of work but for now, work is the last thing to consider, The main thing is getting you back functioning at a level that is acceptable. If you have been off of work a year you should consider filing for Social Security Disability. If you are off on a worker' compensation clain then talk to your atty before doing so, he could advise on this as it could affect the comp claim and any monetary payments you receive.

I totally understand what you are saying about how your life changes over night almost. I became disabled in 2004, I got sick in 2002, and tried denying it all to myself and my health spiraled out of control. I am not disabled because of CP, I am disabled because of crohns disease. I had to get professional help to sort through it all, otherwise I probably would not have made it.

It sounds like you do have a good dr in your corner and that is very important with the pump. A dr can either make a pump a success or a failure. Do you know what kind of meds the dr is going to do the trial with? I have 4 different meds in my pump, Dilaudid, Fentanyl, Clonodine & Bupivicaine. The Bupivicaine is really a must with a pump as it helps the medication adhere to the pain receptors. I have 7.3mgs of it. Anything over that amount can cause your feet to go numb, it happened to me with the other dr and when I got the new dr she reduced the amount by half. I did get the feeling back in my feet.

We are excited for you now that you have things rolling to get the trial. I just don't see how the pump could not help you. To me the only way a trial would not be a success is if the right medication was not used. Are you having the pump because of low back pain? That is why I have mine and that is the only thing it works for is my back only.

Take care.......Susie
Posted 6/5/2012 8:09 PM (GMT 0)
I greatly appreciate you your advice helps greatly and support even more. I may get on tomorrow I hope.

I'm having one of thoughts painful times when even my break through medication is not helping much.

God bless and take care I need to try and rest.

Thank you
Posted 6/6/2012 2:23 PM (GMT 0)
 

     Good morning Pain!

           I wanted to get in a Welcome to you here...as I somehow overlooked this post for some odd reason. As straydog says, the success of the pump may depend on the PM who gets the mix of med's right for you.

 

     If you have not already done so,...I would advise you to go to the Medtronic's website and do a little research on it. Also, they put on "Webinar's" via the computer,...so make sure you sign up for one if you can. I highly suggest it!...as you will learn a great deal there, and it is an open forum, where you can ask questions of the instructor. I attended one, and found it to an excellent source of information. The "Webinar" instructor was a leading PM Dr on these types of pumps...again excellent and well worth the time listening.

     At one time, my Dr scheduled me for a trial pump, but cancelled it at the last minute, believing that my MRI looked perfect of the double lumbar fusion I had back in 2010. I'm at odds here with him, and if I was rejected, it would be because I have not tried and failed all med's for my pain problem. Since then,... he has changed his mind again, and brought it up as a possibility in the future if the current med's fail.

    At the moment, he has changed my med's from the oxycodone products to "Fentanyl" While I am having some success with it, I do not think I'm where I should be with the pain reduction, but have room to go up on the dosage and many others med's to try yet. I did try a couple of the nerve related med's (Cymbalta, Gabapentin)...and had no success with them. The Gabapentin caused severe cramps in my claves...and that was very painful in the middle of the night. (both of them) shakehead  

    Good luck to you, and please do check in with us here with updates if you can.

      SE wink

   

     

Posted 9/6/2012 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
Before I read all the other response to you, I am a new member and I have been wanting this pain pump for a while now. How is it working? Did it lessen your pain a little?. I feel the same way. so tired of my spirits being up and down each day. I am so tired of this pain, it just have me o depressed. i have tried every method of treatment thus far with nothing helping, even this piece of crap of a SCS they implanted in me a year ago. I barely have this thing on.

Also, just wanted to say, God bless you. I know how you feel, Im just 50 years old, raised my children, but have a 7 year old son that I adopted as a newborn. I need to be able to take care of his needs. How can I when I'm in bed 75% of the time. I was always a vibrant happy go lucky hard working women. I have been dealing with this crap for a few years, the last 2 years have been tough. I want RELEIF. its hard looking forward to the next time with hopes that the next day is better than the past one. this is suffering.

I have told them that it does not work for me, actually it aggravates my nerves burning more. Please let me know. thank you.

Lynn
3/2008, Failed back surgery Laminectomy fusion L4-L5
7/2008--Revision of hardware
11/2011, SCS implant
3/2012-Laminectomy Fusion with new hardware and cage
Permanent nerve damage in both legs
Failure of SCS implant

Currently on
150'mg Lyrica 4xdaily
10/325 Percocet
80mg Morphine
8mg Timazidine muscle relaxer
20 mg Lexapro
10 ng ambien
Vitamin D
Spinal Cord Stimulator

Post Edited (Lynnzack) : 9/5/2012 8:52:49 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/5/2013 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
   I thank all of you for all of the info, I am sure that all of you feel the same as I do. Most days the pain is in total control of my life. For five years now I have prayed daily that today would be the day that god needed me, but as of yet I am still waiting. My life revolves around the four walls in my house as well as my yard, when I am feeling up to it. I am presently looking for a new pm doctor. The one that implanted my scs dropped me only months after the implant, telling me there was nothing more he could do for me. Now I am strongly considering a ip and have so many questions that my family dr just cannot answer. I guess that I live in a portion of Michigan that is not well versed in pm. So again my search has spread to the entire state and maybe have found a dr through university of Michigan health care that is willing to review my case.
Posted 7/5/2013 2:51 PM (GMT 0)
I am still new on the subject of pain pumps. Please explain to me why you need a "psych" evaluation, what it is, and what are they trying to determine from such an evaluation.

What is the real advantage in having a pain pump, as opposed to oral meds?

Just trying to understand the logic and purpose to going that route.

Thanks,

David
Posted 7/5/2013 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
Just FYI but this is a really old thread from last year...Eternal pain...you are new so no worries:) It's best to look at the date of the last post and if it's 6 months or more since someone has posted, then to avoid posting on that thread. Since you have a new thread going that you started already, it's best to just cut/paste anything you wrote here and put on there if you want.

Thanks:)

Post Edited (Snowbunny21) : 7/5/2013 9:41:07 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/5/2013 5:32 PM (GMT 0)
The purpose of the psych eval is mainly to make sure you have reasonable expectations with the pump and what it can do for pain & also to make sure you are ok with an implantable device. Some people have the misconception the pump takes all the pain away when it does not.Then they are in the drs office screaming, but you told me the pain would go away if I had one of these. Not true.
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