The Broken Soldier

Had my spinal nerve stimulator implant surgical consult on Wednesday. The guy was late by over an hour. I was getting a bit hot. Hot as in angry. Then in walked a fella bearing striking resemblance to 70s magician Doug Henning.

It took me a minute to settle down and allay my Doug Henning prejudices. I was in pain, and frankly, that he looked so much like Doug Henning made me feel uncomfortable (like he was looking at me in the way that cartoon characters look at one and other when trapped on a deserted island without food). After listening to the sales pitch, asking questions and receiving good answers, I’m opting to have the procedure. Two leads jut from the device, similar to a pacemaker and most everything else Medtronic makes, which are placed along the spinal pathway carrying pain info to the brain. Most of his patients have good results and few, if any, side effects or device failures during its 10 year life span.

The two lead approach allows for coverage of not only the leg pain, but for back pain as well. Most patients report a decrease in pain of 20-50%. For those suffering from severe chronic pain, you know what that means. For those who don’t, it can be the difference between functioning and not.

Things may be looking up. I’m optimistic (guardedly). If I can stay in the 3-5/10 pain scale range, there’s a lot I can still do. Time will tell.