The "rare" method....

Whew! The past two days have been really rough for me! Yesterday I had a temporary spinal cord stimulator implanted in my back to see if it would help with my chronic back pain. My doctor thought I would be the perfect candidate for this because I already have a neurostimulator in my head to help with Occipital Neuralgia. It works wonderfully! The idea was to have the temporary stimulator implanted  for one week. I am supposed to try to do all of my normal activities so I can see how much it will help me with my pain. If I like it, I could have a permanent one implanted to help me deal with my pain on an on-going basis. I had a temporary implant with the stimulator in my head and it really wasn't that big of a deal. I honestly thought this temporary implant would be "no big deal" too. I was wrong.

I had to be partially awake during the surgery so the doctor could ask me when and where I felt the stimulation. After the first stimulator leads were implanted, I couldn't feel the stimulation in my back at all. I could feel it my legs and stomach but not in my back. I heard my doctor say, "she's a tricky one. I'm gonna have to use a method rarely used." So, the surgery that was supposed to take 1 hour took twice as long and many more leads. When the doctor asked me again where I could feel the stimulation, I could feel it in my back!

Dr. North was so excited! He made the nurses take pictures of my back so he could use them in a presentation he was giving last night on implanting neurostimulators! Talk about perfect timing!

This is the picture Dr. North used in his presentation. It's lovely, I know!

This is what I will be wearing for the next week,
including a belt with a battery attached.

I'm not sure what the "usual" method feels like but this "rare" method has caused me tremendous pain. Every time I move I can feel the wires pulling on the incisions. I was expecting to be able to do all of my normal activities but so far, I haven't done much of anything. However, I can feel the stimulation and so far I really like it. I'm just praying that the surgery pain decreases enough that I can do some of my normal activities before I have it removed next Tuesday. I really want to see how much I will benefit from the stimulator. I know it sounds pretty drastic, to have something surgically implanted to deal with pain but chronic pain is the pits. Having something that can help manage the pain can be life altering in an amazing way. It has been with my head, that's for sure!

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to have a trial run of this spinal cord stimulator. It would be really bad to have the stimulator implanted only to find that it doesn't work. The trial is such a great idea. I'm also thankful to have a doctor that knows the "rare" methods to use and is a teacher to others in his field. I had no idea Dr. North was a leader in the spinal cord stimulator world but I am so glad he is! I am thankful that God led me to this doctor. I am also thankful for the love and support I've had from friends and family. My mom was able to take care of the boys yesterday, Bryan has taken really good care of me, my brother and sister-in-law had pizza delivered today and tons of people have been praying for me. God has truly used others as a blessing to me these past two days. I am also thankful for my lil' munchkins. They have loved on me and been very careful with me because of my "boo-boo." They have snuggled with me and kept each other company while I've been laying around. I'm grateful for their sweet smiling faces during a painful time.

Me and my little buddies. They like taking care of me.

Oh, and I'm thankful for the "rare" method. Even though its causing me a lot of pain, if it weren't for the rare method, I wouldn't be able to test out the stimulator, which may be my only chance for pain relief!

You're wondering what the stimulation feels like, aren't you? I bet you are! Does your leg ever go to sleep? Can you imagine those pins and needles? That is what the stimulation feels like, minus the weakness you might feel when your leg goes to sleep. It may not sound that wonderful to you but to someone with chronic pain, those pins and needles are lovely in comparison to the norm!