St Jude Neurostim - considerations
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I looked at both St Jude and Medtronic. My doctor convinced me the St Jude modalities would be better, and that it was MRI compatible. Their version of MRI compatibility is to bury specs in the fine print, such that virtually no facility will do an MRI on me, and I usually need one to two a year.
The reps are hit-and-miss. My current "rep" I won't let touch me again, as last time she reprogrammed, the battery felt like it was burning me. This is the second time she's reprogrammed and I've had an issue. At least I had the sense to ask her to program a burst modulation (you can have multiple types of modulations) which will wear out the battery faster, but seems to give better relief. The tragedy is that the burst is the Medtronic form of modulation (I have no association with either company; I was in banking). I have also been told by the reps that your body will acclimate to the stim setting, so you should plan on needing to change it periodically.
I am a fairly small, slim person. The wires can be felt in my back and they keep bruising. Because I don't have a lot of padding behind 
, I had the battery put in my abdomen. It burns and hurts regularly - especially if I wear pants that hit in the wrong place.
I had spoken with a Medtronic patient prior to implant, so I knew that some amount of pain meds would probably still be needed, which is the case. I've had some amount of relief, but not sure it offsets the pain and aggravation from the implant.
0 likes, 5 replies
linda2365 sginjax
Posted
tamra73559 sginjax
Posted
On the other hand, I wish I had never had it put in and would definitely have it removed if I could. I don’t know if my insurance would cover it, and, I physically and mentally don’t think I could go thru another surgery.
sginjax tamra73559
Posted
I have an MRI mode. I've had three out of four MRI centers turn me down, because the specs on the device require a modification to the settings on the MRI machine, but instead of saying online (where the techs go to validate they can do the MRI with your device) that ___ modification needs to be made, it says not to do an MRI on that body part. St. Jude's even acknowledges that. They told me to have the techs call the support number for the correct settings. But that makes the techs leery when the documentation online they would use for backup in the event of an issue says, "don't do this." My pain management group worked with one MRI center in my city which is willing to do MRI's on me and other St. Jude's patients, so I'm obviously not the only person with this issue.
linda2365 sginjax
Posted
sginjax linda2365
Posted
No apology necessary! I created this post because of the misinformation on the part of St. Judes. Even my doctor didn't know that "MRI compatible" did not mean you put it in MRI mode and it's that simple or the lack of support by reps.