Hi, My name is Bluesman and I am looking to speak with anyone who has the intrathecal morphine pain pump. I would like to know your experiences. What should I expect? Is the procedure painfull?(ect.) If you do have the implant please contact me via this sharepost site. I would greatly appreciate it.
Does anyone have the intrathecal morphine pain pump?
4/13/07 7:18pm
bluesman , i had my 1st pump-medtronic sync II, put in march of '06, developed infection,had it removed, and put in on other side of abdomen area-to the side a little....as far as the operation, it went great and better than i thought..(hint:i had MAC anesthesia,(with general they use a tube down the throat,and i prefer not to do that) and asked for some versaid (sp.?) before going down to o.r. and was actually singing and joking with nurses on the way...woke up, of course medicated, but with only a little soreness in the pump area-that's normal...was released next day,w/antibiotics and pain meds....that was in july '06, and my pain mgnt. gfp. are conservative in my increase of the morphine intrathecally, adding only 10%-15% every other week or monthly, which did not hit all my pain, but they kept me on my same oral meds that i was on, to help with the breakthrough pain/spasms....but as we increased my pump, they lowered my oral meds slowly...i am getting near my"baseline" goal at 9 mg. intrathecally, but still need more fine tuning...i wish i had this done 10 years ago..make sure you read medtronics info on going to the hospital and the procedure and then LET GO....i can only say ,that i went thru it twice and they made sure iwas not in pain and you'll make a new friend with the nurse that does your refills-they are dedicated people to see that YOU get better and as pain free as possible...God speed and let me know how it went....jeff m.
2/ 1/08 6:58pm
My wife had this pump implanted in 2000 after suffering a back injury in 1994. In May of 2007 she lost the use of her legs, and it took me until August to get them to do an MRI. Well,it turns out that so much scar tissue grew around the catheter in her spine that it severed the nerves that control her legs, bowels, and bladder.The doctor that installed the pump would not remove it, so I had to search for another doctor.They removed the pump on 1/28/08, but the doctor said he could not remove much of the scar tissue without doing more damage.We were never warned about this or did anyone suggest an MRI or CT Scan in 8 yrs. Now, at at age 50, my wife is stuck in a wheel chair and had to quit my job of 25 yrs.to take care of her.You may want to discuss this with your doctor and have them keep a closer check on things.Good Luck, and if you talk to anyone who might be able to help my wife, please let me know. Wardie@woh.rr.com
6/22/11 6:32pm
I had the pump implanted about a year ago. I was on 800mcgs fentora, 200mcg Duragesig patches, 8 mg Dilaudid and percocet 5/500 for breakthrough pain. They have upped my pump every month and I have the pump running @1.599mg day 25 mcg duragesic patch and dilaudid three times a day as needed (which I'm thinking of having chandes s is not helping much) What I love is not having the prain fog everything else gave me.. In Vermont they do not do implants unless you have terminal cancer pain. Did they inform you of the tumors that develop on the tip of the cath?
Shara
Health Centers
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