Yes, I know. Despite all of the "I'm Back!" fanfare from August 6th (with a pretty awesome accompanying shot of taffy), it turns out that I wasn't actually back. Instead, I was extraordinarily busy doing a whole lot of nothing and all of that took up a serious amount of time. That's my lame excuse.
In general I'm feeling alright these days..though I did have a bit of a nas-tay flare-up last week. I had a deadline for work and (in true Danimal fashion) I procrastinated as much as I possibly could. This was a very bad idea as it resulted in me having to sit for hours at a time in my 10 year old office chair with an obscene amount of stimulation coursing through my legs and a nasty scowl on my face (which was followed by a few days of shuffle-walking and extreme annoyance at Mr. B when he pulled me across the street to sniff through my neighbor's garbage). Luckily after a few days of extra pain meds. and some aspirin, I'm feeling better.
Ok.. that's my short update (for now). Mr. B says "hi!"
PS-I'm so happy to see that a few new members have joined the site...thanks for visiting!
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4 comments:
I totally understand procrastination...and these days I really don't have all that much to get done (or that I'm able to do). I have sat at my computer in agony many times simply because I couldn't get motivated to start on a project earlier. By the way, Mr. B is looking good with his paws in the sand.
I'm so glad to hear that you are doing well. I have been following your blog for a while as it's possible that my doctor will recommend this for me. I am still waiting to see if my nerves are going to heal on their own for another year.
It's great to see that you are working more now. Are you still glad that you did the surgery? How many hours are you able to sit now compared to before the surgery? What are the main things you find easier to do now that you have the stimulator?
I truly appreciate you sharing your story with all of us. Everyone considering an SCS definitely wants to know what happens after...and I think you've done a great job sharing all of it with us. Thank you very much!
Hey RS -- Pharmacist in Pain, LOL --
Are you still checking here? I tried to email you from your blogger profile but it's closed to public access. Since you are one of the few who've experienced good pain relief with the SCS, I would like to know where your pain is.
I have DDD, arthritis, age-related spinal narrowing, a healed compression fracture in my mid-spine, all resulting in terrible, burning chronic pain that isn't relieved by 30 mg of methadone and 115 mg of MS Contin, both taken 3x/day, plus muscle relaxants.
I cancelled a Medtronics SCS trial because my doctor, an anesthesiologist, was just too flippant about it. He never told me about the possibiility of a surgical placement vs. percutaneous (which is all he can do). Then again, the Medtronics Ambassador I spoke to had never heard of percutaneous...
Information and experience is so hard to find, I'd love to hear what you think my chances are of finding lower back relief with percutaneous leads only. I like my doctor because he IS willing to prescribe ample pain meds, unfortunately they don't seem to do much except make me sleepy. My pain is so bad all the time, my life is so limited. Not that it's all bad and I get a lot of pleasure from friends, husband, doggie, books and computer games.
I'm afraid of lead migration w/ percutaneous leads -- in fact this seems like almost certainty from what I read. I'm afraid of infection despite your comments earlier, and even of paralysis and losing what little mobility I have. The decision process is agonizing, as Dani once said.
On the brighter side, today I got a referral to a local neurosurgeon from my PCP. I'm also waiting for insurance approval for an MRI just to see what all is going on down there, and since if I do have the implant I can't have another one.
Anyway, this is my only way of communicating with you and I hope you keep checking comments as I do, while Dani is busy doing other things.
Sorry to hijack your blog also, Dani, but I really want to get some more info from RS and this is the only way. If you could answer my recent "URGENT" email that would be great, but whenever you are absent I'm happy thinking that you are living your young life with much reduced pain, and you are not required to devote your life to being Miss SCS! If all we have is what you've given us already, it's a blessing.
Margaret -- made_maka (at) hotmail (dot) com
Margaret, Go to raceagainstpain.com for MANY more success stories as well as the ups and downs of scs. You can log on and ask all the questions you want and others who are chronic pain patients will give you their responses. I have an scs for chronic pain (with percutaneous leads) for lower back pain and radiating pain down right leg to toes. Have had mine since June 12th with good success, no infections and no migrations (I have a good pain doc who implanted my scs). Keep looking for answers until you are satisfied.
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