Neurostimulator implant Succees

I did my 7 day trial in February of this year,I had good results & was scheduled for the implant surgery on Feb 25th 2012. The surgery went great, with minimal pain. I've been in to my pain Dr every 3 months or so for check ups & getting new settings programed in,other than that I have had no problems with the implant, I take less than half the pain killers I used to take, I charge the internal battery twice a month (I do it more often to extend overall life of the battery ) and I have a reduction in pain by 50 to 80%. That's saying a lot compared to the pain I've been going through for the past 14 years,from nerve damage & spinal injuries to my lower back. I tried every thing before getting the implant including, muscle manipulation, chiropractors, tens units,many different pain drugs,years of steroid facets & epidurals,burning the nerve endings & other treatments. None of them worked well or for very long,but my neuro stimulator from St.Jude Medical was my answer.

Yes that is great to hear. I am still waiting to get mine permanently installed. Was scheduled for 11/11/12, but issues with my blood work has put me in a holding pattern.

Take care,
Bill

Thor as I posted to you in another thread I think its wonderful that you are getting the relief you were seeking. It is so refreshing to see something positive happen to anyone suffering with chronic pain. I hope this success continues permanently.

Please keep us informed of your progress.

Take care......Susie

Thank you all very much for your comments,I truly feel blessed for the relief & reduction in pain levels. To answer a few questions I was asked by you. No I didn't have to reduce my pain meds before or during surgery, the post-op pain was bearable (5-7), a lot less than I expected, I was up walking around 2 hours after the surgery. The pain was less than my hernia surgery was,but not as intense as my knee surgery had been,if that gives you an idea. The battery pack & control package was implanted in my right hip (3 inch horizontal scar) the leads were put in through an incision (3 inch vertical) in the center of my back right above where my buttocks end. No the leads won't move out of place on you as long as you don't raise your arms above your head f III r about a week, it gives them time to set in. I barely even know it's there inside me most days,you can press hard enough to feel the battery pack on your hip but it's not noticeable. I can finally get back under the hoods of automobiles & crawl underneath them,laying on the ground I don't even feel it then. The biggest thing I worry about is turning it down in intensity when I lay down & turning it up to stand,walk or sit, I have many different programs & settings I can use with my remote control.

Thanks so very much, I appreciate the answers! Many well wishes for continued success and improvements...Thank You

Thor,

Thanks for the info! I love hearing from other people with stimulators, and especially those who are having such great success!

My unit is a Medtronic Restore Ultra. Overall, I've been very pleased, mechanically, with my stim unit. I have heard of so many people who have had problems with the leads, or the battery (no matter the brand of the implant), even after just a short period of time. Thankfully, I've never had a problem with any of my hardware. But I know that if I ever do, both my doc and my reps are great, and I have total confidence in them.

Obviously the time that it takes to deplete the battery also varies on the settings you are running your stim at. I've certainly had my charge last much longer, and much shorter, but I find 3 - 5 days to be the norm for me. After 2 1/2 years, charging has just become a normal part of my routine, and it is no big deal. I always charge at night, and often sleep with my charger on. At my current rate of usage, and upkeep of my device, my reps are estimating an overall battery life of 10 - 12+ yrs. From what you said, it sounds like it is also true with your brand of stim, that the more regularly you use and charge your stim, the longer the overall battery life will be. It's kind of the opposite philosophy of cell phones/laptops/etc, where the more you charge, the shorter your battery life becomes.

As for reprogramming, I've thought about it, and recently talked with my doc (although not the neurosurgeon who is my stim doc) about the possibility. However, I really don't know that it would help at all, and my doc agrees. The problem is that the area that my pain is in is so specific, and tricky to get to, that it is hard to reprogram the stim to get any better coverage. It took quite a bit of adjustments initially to get decent coverage. As far as we know, no one has ever used a stimulator for treating my condition, so we are kind of on foreign ground.

Unfortunately, money is also another big factor holding me back from attempting a reprogramming. I spent well over 6 mo fighting my insurance company for approval of a stimulator trial/implant, and had two trial surgeries cancelled, both the day before the procedure, due to insurance issues! I had to take my appeals to the highest level possible before presenting my case to the state insurance commissioner (the very last possible insurance appeal option). Fortunately, I finally won at my rather intense in-person hearing.

Anyways, despite having "insurance coverage" of my stim, my neurosurgeon is "out of network," as he is in a different state. And with our insurance plan, we have a very high deductible that we have to pay out of pocket before insurance will pay any part of the bill. My surgeon is beyond wonderful, and usually writes off the cost of his services (he even wrote off all his fees for both surgeries!!!). However, Medtronics charges over $3000 for my rep to run a routine diagnostic/re-programming on my stim (a procedure which usually takes 5 - 10 min total). I nearly fainted when I saw that number for the first time! Absolutely ridiculous!! That being said, I just saw my doc/rep at the beginning of the summer, and got the official okay to start seeing them only once a year, unless I have any problems. My insurance plan is about to start over on Dec 1st, so I'm on my own payment wise, and I just don't have the money, and neither do my parents. So unfortunately, any reprogramming will have to wait until my routine visit next summer. Fortunately, I do at least have 7 different programs to choose from/cycle through on my own, and my reps have unlocked an extra element that they often don't let patients access on their own, so I have as much control over my settings as is possible...

Skeye

I than you so much for this thread right now. I had pre-op yesterday & have a trial on Wednesday. I'm praying this will give me some of my life back....and allow me to reduce (or even just maintain the same level of current medication). I am also praying that I can get all of this done before the new year so I don't have to start over on the new insurance payouts. If I do the final implant before the new year, I don't have to do pre-op again either.

Many of you know the trials I have had w/my PM & now there is an issue with after surgery medications. They are saying that I cannot have any additional meds from the neuro after the implant. I'm not worried about the trial, but the final implant requires real surgery and I think it is inhuman to expect a person to be cut & get no pain medication (that they are not already on) afterwards. My neurosurgeon says they will handle it, but I will always be at risk with this practice and the attempts I have made to find other care have not gone well.

Anyway, I did not mean to take over the thread and I am very happy to see that there are members who are doing so well. Again, thank you for your post!

My SCS is very new to me, I just got my unit this past July. I am pleased with things so far. However, any time I get dissapointed I turn it off for a few hours, I am then reminded how much it really helps.

I have had several reprogrammings so far and have been never been told about getting a bill or being charged. I dont need to go to my NS office for reprogramming. I just call my rep and he meets me at either the PM office or the hospital waiting room, whatever is more convienient. The only thing I was told was about trying to get my insurance company to pay for the extended warranty on the remote.

My unit is a Prescion Plus with Boston Scientific. Which I am seeing isnt to popular, it was the only one my office trials, so I was pretty much told this was it. Anyone with any info in regards to follow up with this unit would be appreciated. I know all offices and companies arent the same, I just dont want to be surprised,lol! Hopefully, mine is one withno charges!!

I am having a redo Thursday with my STS. Thought I should tell ya'll: I followed up w/ the st Jude nurse to make sure I was getting a new battery. She never got back to me so I called st Jude tech service and stated my concerns and no confirmation. Stressed I would hire a lawyer if there were issues and the battery was not replaced. He said he would check with legal dept and Mary, the nurse. A half hour later Mary called and said she had not heard back from the rep but said she heard from tech and I will get a new battery. What wish important is I did the right thing in calling st Jude. She said it was good I was being pro active. She hopes to see me Thursday at the hospital. I stressed I would prefer her if possible. So, everyone, be proactive with issues! Thank you everyone for prayers. I am keeping ur issues in prayer also.

Skeye, maybe calling medtronics technical support? Local consumer affairs maybe too? Hopefully some will care!

My rep said the phone call I made to tech and mentioning lawyer was a great move, FYI. Another rep did not want to replace it, IMO.

Lmk how it goes.

Im so glad that you are having success with your stimulator. Unfortunatley, mines, Boston Scientific does not relieve my leg pain and burning too much. It actually makes my legs more agitated at times, so I cannot keep it on all day. But its always good news to hear that someone else's stimulator is working and giving them pain relief.

RM,

If you're not happy with your other programs, don't be shy about calling your rep. They can meet with you and reprogram the stim so that those other 7 programs are more to your liking. Sometimes it takes some playing around with to create programs with adequate coverage -- that is normal. I'm thrilled that your have one program that is really helping, but with a little tweaking, perhaps your rep can find you some more! It is basically trial and error in the beginning, and you definitely want to make the best of your stim trial!

Skeye

Retired mom,you are always welcome on this thread. I'm always happy to talk to or hear anyone's thoughts on nerve stimulators, pain control or anything to do with the back. I wish I had known this site was here years ago,just to talk. Thank you all for your input.