I've had 3 prev. back surg.'s, w/ titaniumm steel screws and rods in my lower back-L-2-down through S-1 in 2003, with many painful experiences before, during and after the process. My !st surg. was by a orth. Sur. in Sprfld, MO, my next 2 were by a very reputable neurosurgeon in St. Loius, MO. Bottom line- I've never been right or out od pain, after many, many drugs, tests, etc. Issue was nor from single accident or injury, just years of work, sports and life. Off diag. was spondyolilisthesis, w/ deg. disc disease and neuropothy. I had a medtronic pain implant done in Aug., 2004, and just found out 2 days ago the pump has stopped working, and will need replacement, or have it out and go back to the days of pre-plant oral medicinal care/pain mgt. to deal with my situation. I hate the thought of going under again as am SICK of all the surg's, mylograms, ct's on & on, but am so torn it's emotionally tearing me aprt. The pump did seem to help more the past year, for some reason more than the previous four. Thoughts, suggestions, advice???? Trying to remain objective, but realistic in Missouri. THANK YOU !
Q: Had pain implant pump 5 yrs, now pump is shot. Sick of surg's & extra pain. Go 4 new implant or not
The very best place to get answers to questions about pain pumps is on our forum. That's where everyone gathers to discuss anything to do with intrathecal pain pumps. There is an excellent ongoing thread entitled “Willing to share experience with intrathecal morphine pump implant” that was started and is maintained by Bob Englebardt. It's a pretty long thread, but rest assured your post will be read and answered. If you don’t find an answer to your question already there, just click on the last page and post your question. Here is a link to this thread on the forum:
http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/chronic-pain/forums/a/tpc/f/7251032/m/8491036
(Note: If you've never been to the forum before, you'll have to register separately from your registration here on ChronicPainConnection. You can, however, use the same e-mail address and password if you like to make it easier to remember.)
Whay did the pump fail and was it helpful when it was working? If it was helpful and it wasn't your body that caused the failure I would go throught the few days of post surgical pain and have a new one put in.
Shara
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