This is my wife’s story about Chronic Back Pain and how she gained relief from the never ending pain that was ruining her life.
She went from Doctor to Doctor trying to find some relief from the pain in her lower back and right knee. Every Doctor she saw, prescribed pain medications and muscle relaxants. Nothing seemed to alleviate the pain. Over the next two years, she went from mild pain relievers, such as aspirin, massive doses of Ibuprofen and Motrin , weak opioids, such as codeine, and strong opioids, such as morphine, and all the narcotic pain medicines including a patch that she wore on her back. My wife was slowly becoming drug dependent because of the pain. She had seen what drug addiction had done to her nephew and she did not want to be in that situation. She had gotten to the point, that she stated, ” If I have to live like this for the rest of my life, I do not want to live”! She had no quality of life at all. I eventually had to leave my full-time employment and work just part-time in order to be at home to care for her. She wasn’t able to get in or out of bed, use the bathroom, do menial household chores or practically anything! We even had to rent a hospital bed for her to sleep in to relieve the pressure of laying on her back.
During the next year, she was evaluated by three (3) different neuro-surgeons and back specialists, two (2) pain management specialists and a chiropractor. All the surgeons diagnosed her condition as two (2) Prolapsed Discs, and Neuropathy. The prognosis was the same, from all three surgeons; surgery was NOT an option, because of the condition of her back and spinal column. They all stated that surgery would possibly leave her worse than her condition was already.
On one of the visits to her pain management Doctor, she had asked him if there was anything at all that could help her with the pain and to get off of all the narcotics that she was on. The Doctor said that there was a device called a neuro-stimulator that she might be a candidate for. For some patients it would work and for some it would not. He even said that some patients could not get used to the way the device felt and asked for it to be removed. She said, ” WHEN can I try it?” The neurostimulation system is typically implanted in a two-stage procedure, separated by a trial screening period lasting approximately 1 to 10 days. Stage 1 involves implantation of a lead for trial screening, and Stage 2 involves implantation of the complete neurostimulation system.
The following article, is an excerpt from Medtronic’s Web-Site about how the Neurostimulation device works. (http://www.medtronic.com/neuro/paintherapies/pain_t reatment_ladder/neurostimulation/neuro_neurostimulat ion.html).
How Neurostimulation Controls Pain
Neurostimulation delivers low voltage electrical stimulation to the spinal cord or targeted peripheral nerve to block the sensation of pain. One theory, the Gate Control Theory of pain developed by researchers Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall, proposes that neurostimulation activates the body’s pain inhibitory system. According to this theory, there is a gate in the spinal cord that controls the flow of noxious pain signals to the brain. The theory suggests that the body can inhibit these pain signals or “close the gate” by activating certain non-noxious nerve fibers in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. The neurostimulation system, implanted in the epidural space, stimulates these pain-inhibiting nerve fibers, masking the sensation of pain with a tingling sensation (paresthesia).1,2
1Melzack R, Wall PD. Pain mechanisms: A new theory. Science. 1965; 150(699):971-9.
2Shealy CN, Mortimer JT, Reswick JB. Electrical inhibition of pain by stimulation of the dorsal columns: Preliminary clinical report. Anesth Analg. 1967; 46(4):489-91.
As soon as she came out of the Doctor’s procedure room, from having the trial neurostimulator attached, she had the BIGGEST smile on her face! One that I had not seen for several years. Just that soon, and she was not experiencing any pain! Well, for three (3) days, she was acting like a different person. When she went back to have the trial device removed, her pain immediately returned. The next step, was the actual implant procedure. For two (2) weeks, she had to live with pain once again.
On the day my wife’s surgery was scheduled, she could hardly wait to get to the hospital! The procedure itself, took just a little over four (4) hours, and she would be admitted for observation overnight. After she arrived in her room, still a little under the anesthesia, I could tell that she was OK! She had that same smile on her face! The Representative from Medtronic went over the procedure with me and explained how the device would work.
My wife had the procedure on Jul 12, 2007. To this day, she has been virtually pain free. There are times when she has slight pain, but she can adjust the neurostimulator to her comfort level. Occasionally, she has to return to the Pain Management office for “tune-ups” just to fine tune the device for optimal performance. It takes approximately 15 minutes, the Medtronic Representative uses a hand-held device simular to a palm pilot to make the changes, and that is it.
We can never thank Medtronic enough for this method of managing her pain! It has made all the difference in the quality of life that my wife has now. She can do almost anything she wishes now, with moderation, and she even is able to enjoy working in her flower garden again. Something she had not been able to do for the last two (2) years.
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