Hey everyone,
Update time... the topic says it all for those who are curious about when the surgery is. It's tomorrow at 7:45am, and man has it got me scared. Now a lot of people have been curious as to what I'm going to be going through, well I was going over the web site and checked it out... so here's the update on what tomorrow is going to be like for me...
What Can I Expect During Surgery?
During the Test Drive procedure, your Pain Specialist will place flexible Leads under your skin in the epidural space (near the spinal cord). The end of each Lead has contacts that deliver pain-masking signals to the spinal cord. These Leads will be connected to your External Stimulator.
At this time, you will be awake to give feedback about the therapy so that your Pain Specialist can ensure proper placement of the stimulation Leads. This is an important time for you to communicate whether or not you are feeling paresthesia.
During surgery, your objective is to give feedback about paresthesia: where and how strong you feel it.
To get the most benefit from spinal cord stimulation therapy, it is important that you are able to feel paresthesia comfortably in the areas where your pain is, like a treasure hunt where X marks the spot. A specialist will adjust the system and ask you to describe where you are feeling the paresthesia sensation.
You will feel the focal point and coverage of stimulation move around: The specialist will make adjustments according to your feedback. As the paresthesia moves around, it will also feel like it is getting stronger and weaker. You always want to keep it at a comfortable level that you can feel.
Once the stimulation is in the general areas of your pain, your Pain Specialist will determine that the Leads are in the right place and the procedure is complete. Bandages or dressing will be applied to keep your Leads clean and protected.
Now I was wrong about something, I thought the real implant would be in me, soon after the test implant is done. Though I also found this note on the page...
What Can I Expect With the Implant Procedure?
After taking the Precision Plus SCS System Test Drive, you and your Pain Specialist will decide whether the Precision System has addressed your chronic pain needs and determine if Precision Long Term Therapy is right for you.
Some people find the time between the end of their Test Drive and the beginning of their Long Term Therapy difficult. Many find it challenging to cope with the sudden loss of Precision SCS therapy, which helped them control their pain.
This waiting period gives your body time to heal from the incisions from the Test Drive. After the healing process (which can take from one to four months), you are ready to schedule the Long Term Therapy procedure with your doctor.
Although your Leads will be implanted again, this surgery will be different because the Implantable Pulse Generator (IPG) will also be implanted. This surgery is still considered minor surgery. Instead of having the External Trial Stimulator (ETS) sending pain-masking signals, your IPG will now do this. Also, the IPG is smaller and lighter than the ETS, and is easy to recharge.
Hopefully this will answer people's questions about what is going on. Though if anyone wants to study any more up on this surgery and what the outcome will be check out their website at :
http://www.controlyourpain.com/I should be able to post when I get home tomorrow to let everyone know how I'm doing... if for some reason I can't, Miki will get on and post an update for everyone.
