Stim trial tomorrow - unit changed from Medtronics to St Jude's TODAY

RM wasn't it Thor on here that is new that was reporting good things with his/her stim implant and I am thinking it was a St Jude? I may be getting this mixed up but check it out if you like. Good luck tomorrow...


Susie

I will be getting a trial one in January (if WC allows it) and it is a St. Jude as well. I greatly trust my physician and the whole pain clinic is exclusively using St. Jude's for a while. My main treating physician is a pain specialist and was voted best in his field in Tampa by the US World and News Report (my WC claim is in another state thank god so they don't have full control of physicians and depite the fact that I am a WC patient, he spends a good 30 minutes with me during each of my monthly visits).

I had to see the doctor from the same clinic who was going to do the implant and he also highly recommended the St. Jude SCS. They have been calling me from St. Jude's every day for the past week but I have been avoiding them as I am still too freaked out but I will talk to them in a couple of days.

Other than the fact that all I read and heard is good things about St. Jude stimulators, I don't know how it actually compares to other brands.

Good luck with your trial and I hope you get the relief you deserve.

--- I just joined so I am not too familiar with the settings and I have not posted any intros or anything yet. I will as soon as I get a feel for the forum (this is the first time in 7 years since my accident that I have joined a medical forum btw).

Druid001 -

Welcome to the forum. I encourage you to post an intro... everyone here is supportive and encouraging.... :) Let us know if you have any questions....

Look forward to hearing more from you --Tina

Hi RM, no experience with SCS units here, just wanted to say good luck tomorrow, and I hope it gives you a substantial level of relief. Also I found this website that had a number of articles on the st jude scs units. Maybe it might have some good info there for you, or at least give you some light reading to pass a few minutes. Take care and good luck.

http://www.sjm.com/corporate/media-room/media-kits/patient-conditions-and-therapies/spinal-cord-stimulation.aspx

Hi RM no experience with the SCS, but wanted to wish you well tomorrow. I hope things go the exact way you want them to and that it helps your pain levels. Keep us posted, and good luck tomorrow.

Hugs,
Barbara

You will do great RM!!! Cant help you with the St Jude unit as my office only uses Boston Scientific and Medtronics. Actuallyin all of the offices I have been to in the last few years I have mever had the St Jude mentioned. Maybe they are not in our area just yet. We opted for Boston Scientific, but off the top of my head I dont remember anything beyond the paddle lead and new anchoring system being better for a young active person. Then again, they are sales people and will definetely push as their unit being the best.

Again, I am sure you will do fine! Take care of yourself.

Hugs,
Shell

Hi RM,

What fantastic news! I'm so glad that you are already finding the stim to be helpful! Your rep is right, you will have better coverage and much more control over the settings with the permanent implant. The number of programs that they can install on the trial stim is limited. I believe my trial unit had 3 different programs. My permanent one has 7 or 8. Also, your ability to tweak your settings is limited with the trial stim. This is due in part to the limitations of the trial unit, however, they also may lock certain features until you get used to the stim (ie until they implant the permanent unit), as they are a bit more complicated. For example, I had control over the amplitude and rate of stimulation with my trial unit, but not the pulse width. I believe that I also could only change the amplitude of one electrode at a time, whereas now I can change them individually or at the same time.

Do you know how long the wait time will be between when you have the trial stim removed, and when you can have the permanent implant installed? I'm just curious. I was lucky in that my doc actually scheduled my permanent implant at the same time that he scheduled my trial. I think he does this with all his patients, but it was especially convenient in my case, as I had to go back to the OR one way or another, as due to the location of my electrodes (in my face), they cannot be removed in the office like those that are placed in your back. The second surgery was scheduled as permanent implant OR trial unit removal, depending on how my trial went. I must admit, it was really nice to have the permanent implant scheduled ahead of time, so that I didn't have that agonizing wait in between procedures. My trial was 7 days long.

Anyways, I hope the rest of your trial goes well. Definitely try to live life as normally as possible over the next few days. It is important that you get a feel for how the stimulator works when you do different activities, and especially activities that normally aggravate your pain.

I can't wait for an update! In the mean time, you will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Skeye

Whoooo! That is such wonderful news! What a blessing to have something be able to help lower your pain levels.

I will continue to pray that things go well and you can get the permanent one done fairly soon...

Happy Dance for you:)

Glad the trial is going well for you! Lets hope you can have the same success with the permanent one as well!

SE

Wow that is amazing news RM. So glad the stim is such a success for you. Keep us posted when you hear about the date for your perm. stim.

How sweet of your daughter to do that for you. Aren't kids just amazing.

Suzane