Medtronic Intrathecal Pain Pump

Good Afternoon Everyone! I thought I posted this question on Monday night, but I have been unable to find it. Therefore, apologies if this has already been covered. I am 39 and have Multiple Sclerosis. I have managed my MS pain through high doses of fentanyl patches. I went through an incredibly successful drug trial (with the exception of having a spinal headache and therefore needing a blood patch) and will therefore will have the actual implant on Monday.

For those of you who have experience with recovering from pain pump surgery, what should I expect?

Thanks so much for any help!

Bump!

Hi Doxiegirl and welcome to the chronic pain forum. So, you have finished the trial for a pump and it was a success, thats awesome. I am sorry to hear that you ended up with a spinal headache, fortunately this did not happen to me, thank goodness.

Your dr should give you post op instructions to follow and I urge you to follow them to the letter. It took me a good 6 weeks to recover and I think that is typical, although each person is different. It is no different recovery wise than any surgery I suppose, it all depends on how you recover from surgery individually. The biggest mistake most people make when they have had surgery is over doing things when they start to feel better. Just use the time to recover and forget about anything else. You will have plenty of time to do things you want to do after recovery.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.....Susie