8627L18 Pump Recall, Drug reaction to Dilaudid, Lipoma Filium & Trigeminale Recent Diagnosis
Please Help: Here are the facts as according to my Boyfriend & witnessed by myself:
I had a failed l4-l5 fusion w/ hardware in 2001. Ruptured a disc in Workers' Comp Aggressive rehab program for lower back pain - they stalled so long to approve surgery bits of the disc damaged my spine. I tried every oral medication w/ dimineshed results - extreeme nausea going into withdrawal before getting medication into system; phentonal patch 75 mg helped for 6 months but kept passing out in Texas Summer heat. Dr. did test for Morphine pump and in Feb. of 2004 he implanted a Medtronics 8627L18 which worked great for the first 3 years. When my concentration was increased from 5% to 10% I began experiencing sever nausea....day, night, morning, after meals - all the time. I was at 4 mg Morphine then Lioresol was added to the pump to releive the nausea. The Pump was increased up to 7 mg per day w/ no increased relief. Dr. rec. lowering dosage 20% every 3 months - when I got down to 1.8% I could take no more pain & nausea was getting worse. So my dr. advised replacing the morphine & lioresol with dilaudid (advising it would provide same pain relief but less apt to cause nausea). 1 week after the dilaudid began to drip I began to pass out, had problems w/ loss of bowels, went back 4 times in 1 week for a dosage decrease due to sysmtoms - then bladder quit working. Dr. called me after hours concerned I was under medicated???; Dr. prescribed 30 mg morphine sulfate and advised if I didn't urinate by the next day to to the hospital. I tried everything, warm baths, running water, enama & bladder shut down; went to hospital -bladder was almost 500 mg and I lost 40 lbs in 2 weeks during the dilaudid medication change. At hospital. dr. replaced dilaudid with saline & no pain meds for 3 days to verify bladder problems associated w/ dilaudid. Prescribed 30 - 120 mg morphine orally for 2 weeks until pump was refilled w/ Morphine at .05 per day at 10%. I went from working & walking to bedridden. I increased the pump up to 3.8 mg per day - still major pain especially sitting or riding in a car. Had MRI of cathadar & reassured everything was just fine. Recently decided to get 2nd opinion & discovered MRI showed thin "lipoma of the filium" over the l4-l5 attached to the cord. When I asked my dr. 1st he said it was nothing & they would monitor in a year. Then he called back 1 month later to advise surgical referal; however insurance company denies any relationship to surgery or pump. My Case is a Workers' Comp, Insurance company pays very little for treatment & advises will not pay to replace Recalled Med. 8727L18 before 7-9 years. Med. advises pump life is 5-6 years and verified it is under a FDA Level 1 recall for pump motor failure; Doctor upset over whole ordeal & just wants to take me off the pump over the next 6 months without any assistance with withdrawal or pain mgmt. - I'm barely walking now at 2 mg @ 10% daily of Morphine only & reducing by 20% they want once a week, (I cannot handle the reductions) ; Medtronics advised told Insurance Company Pump was ok because it has not failed in the past - I'm concerned about the future, driving or working & pump stopping & God Forbid hurting or killing someone as a result. I'm concerned as Medtronics advises Lioresal & Dilaudid are not approved for my specific pump & could have caused permanent problems to pump - all I know is I'm going down hill fast; about to loose my ability to walk & hoping 2nd opinion with provide me with HOPE & a Pain Mgmt Plan I can Live With...This is no way to live; I'm in bed most of the day;screaming Help, help, help - family dr. presc. 10mg Valium which helps w/ sleep & as muscle relaxer...I concerned about the long-term effects of the reaction to dilaudid; any withdrawal from lioresal, pump failure, lipoma of the filiaum, & recent diagnosis = trigeminale -had 4 episodes lasting 5 - 30 minutes over last 2 month.s - all I can say is this is the worst pain I've ever experienced & if it were to last over 30 min. I would head straight to the Emergency Room for asap pain relief. I have a had 2nd opinion scheduled sometime in the next 2 weeks & know nothing of the relationship of the Trigeminale & Lipoma of the Filium but I can only say a person can only endure so much pain...if I were a dog or horse I would be put down - I refuse to debate the right to live or die - I've been fighting this for over 10 years now and only going down hill. What upsets me most is my Dr. did not disclose the Pump Recall when I inquired over 3 years with my problems which masked the withdrawal I went thru in the Hospital. Had I been sent the letter, I would have had the pump replaced asap and would have never changed medications as excessive adjustments contribute to pump motor failure according to Medtronics Recall / FDA Recall. Please, any help or assistance would be greatly appreciated and possibly life saving.
My wife had this pump installed in 2006 . She had a back injury in the same area
as yours . The pump worked great at first when the doctor installed it and
filled and controlled it . We moved about a year later to another state where
we had to find another doctor to take care of the pump and meds .
My wife had trouble with the new doctor from the start and she said that he put
other meds. in the pump without telling her first . There were many visits last year
to the emergency room and one heart attack . Stays in the ICU 4 times and she
died once and was brought back while in the hospital . It is only now that I learned
that there was a recall on the pump . Now after she died last November . Cause
is undetermined waiting toxicoligy . The report came back and she had no morpine
in her system . Still waiting cause . The last time she went to have it filled
before she died it was almost full and probably wasn't working properly . She would
take oral meds to excess and now I can understand why .
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