Back surgery coming up

dreadnut

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2 days from now I'm scheduled to have a spinal neurostimulator implanted to block the pain signals from my spine to my brain. The pain is due to spinal stenosis, deterioration of the discs. The trial stimulator worked really well but I've had to wait and jump through a bunch of medical hoops for 3 months since then. The pain has been moderate to severe this whole time. It feels like there is a knife stuck in my upper left butt cheek all the way up to the hip bone, that's the best way I can describe it. Of course they took me off oxycodone, so I have been taking Nucynta, a weaker opioid, which knocks the edge off the pain a little. Hopefully this stimulator will do the job without medication, at least that's the goal.

One more takeaway for me: I will heretofore have a lot more empathy for people who have chronic pain. They're not just complainers or whiners; it really hurts. All the time.
 

refret

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I wish you the best of luck with the implant, one of my coworkers prior to my retirement had what sounds like the same implant, he said that it was effective. I feel bad complaining about a minor hernia surgery......this makes me count my blessings to say the least! Again, wishing you the best!
 

AcornHouse

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Good Luck! I had a microdiscectomy last year, and it made a big difference.
 

davismanLV

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Hey dreadnut, sorry you have to go through this but on the plus side I also have had a friend who had this procedure done. She was back at work having an active life and virtually pain-free. So that's a good thing. Good luck with the surgery! Pain sucks and I'm tired of being in it!! Two more surgeries and a procedure to go and maybe then I'll be fairly pain free. (I almost said "normal" but I think that's an unrealistic goal for me....)
 

Westerly Wood

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Hey Dread, praying for you man, chronic pain is exhausting. Looking forward to hear the good report post surgery...
 

dreadnut

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Thanks all, I hope to get my life back, at least somewhat. I've got a bunch of Alzheimer's residents that need to be serenaded!
 

bobouz

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I feel very fortunate to be relatively pain free & retired at 66. It's a good thing, since even a prolonged headache tends to make me whine a lot.

Best of luck with your surgery and recovery. When you're ready, those patients will be very happy to see you!
 

MLBob

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Best of luck with the procedure and recovery. Chronic back pain is no fun.

Bob
 

Default

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Good luck, Marc! I have a friend who is in line for the same operation. I hope that it works as well as you have heard!
 

killdeer43

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I'm pulling for your procedure to go well, Marc.
I had the option for back surgery to deal with a disc problem a while back and I passed. Everyone's problem is different but yoga worked for me.

Come back strong and pain free, :encouragement:
Joe
 

poser

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I'll add my good wishes. Sounds like you are already looking beyond the surgery.
 

dreadnut

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Surgery update

Update: Back home after surgery. They kept me in the hospital one night for observation. Kinda sore at the incision sites, but that will pass. The doc did his thing and stapled me up. 2 incisions, one in the mid-back where he did a laminectomy on two discs and inserted the electrical leads, and one in the right butt cheek for the controller/battery. Getting used to using the new stimulator but it seems to be blocking the pain like it's supposed to. Got an ipod for a controller.

My good friend Dr. Ron Renzema was my anesthesiologist. Of course, any surgery has it's risks, especially when general anesthesia is involved, so it was nice to know I was in good hands. He spent about 1/2 hour with us before the surgery, then he prayed with us before I went into the O.R. I can't begin to tell you how reassuring that was.
 

poser

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YAY, for the successful surgery! Wishing you a speedy recovery.
 
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