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Spinal cord is twisted, Severe pain for 10+ years. SCS?

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Annab1983
Annab1983

So I finally found out some of the reasons my back has hurt me for so long. My Thorasic spine is twisted from the cervical-thoracic junction  where it starts, it is completely sideways by mid thoracic spine and rotates counter clock-wise back to a nearly natural position by the Thoracic-Lumbar junction. There are many other issues present and the Neuro Surgeon and my Pain management dr both said the Spinal Cord Stimulator is the best option for me now. There would be far too many fusions required to remedy all of the issues and he doesn't want me to start down that path unless I don't have success with the SCS. I'm terrified because when they placed the leads for the trial I was wide awake in spite of the IV meds that they gave and It was complete torture!~The leads also moved and there was an added complication because of the twist in my spinal cord, so Stimulation was not aquired on the left side of my upper back. They were able to reach the part right beside my spine and found out where the leads would need to be placed.

I'm scared because I don't want to be awake and feel the leads being pushed through my spinal cord space again. That was unbearable! Has anyone else had the SCS and how long did it take to recover?

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  • Annab1983
    Annab1983

    Posted

    So I'm now at about 7 weeks post op. The fist several weeks were pretty bad. I tried going back to work too early and made things worse. I think the surgery part of it is better finally. But I've been having a lot more numbness in my hands, thumb and forefinger and pinky and ring finger. It doesn't seem to affect my middle finger right now. The bad thing is I've been having chest pain and a pain that's going down my left upper inner arm and over into my right shoulder at times. I'm going today for a c-spine X-ray to see what's going on with those.

    My wife is having a spinal fusion on Monday this coming week. L5-S1. I hate seeing her in pain and suffering. How does the fusion compare to the scs?

  • ashlee225
    ashlee225 Annab1983

    Posted

    I had this done a few months back. You are put under for the permanent placement. Thank God! I hated the trial part also. It works for me except I felt disc pop in my lower yesterday. Can feel the movement of them a cooling sedation and some stiffness. But the scs is blocking pain. Good luck! I finally got relief after 14 years!!
  • Annab1983
    Annab1983

    Posted

    Well, just as some had warned.... this has not been a walk in the park for me. It helps with my lumbar pain but when the scs is on, it causes a severe burning pain across my upper back that is truly unbearable. I've been working with the bs Rep and he did some adjustments that at least made it stop cramping the muscle. It's effectively unusable now though. I'm going to call the dr office and talk about scheduling a trigger point injection today. Hopefully this helps.

    I've also started having some weakness and am dropping a lot of stuff. The other day I was heading into the kitchen with a glass of milk and I had a good grip of it, it just fell out of my hands. I drop my phone and keys every day. I don't know why though. I'm usually a little more graceful and careful with all that stuff. All I can say is that my otter box is the only reason I've not had to buy 5 phones this month. It's a GREAT product! Lol

    Wonder if they do paid endorsements?

    Thanks to all of you for being sounding board and listening and giving insight where you can. I feel a little less alone

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