I had 4 back surgeries previous to the implant (5 now.) I had several damaged discs to say the least. I also have Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis, both progressive autoimmune disorders. Needless to say, I live in daily pain. I've had physical therapy, multiple surgeries, and multiple injections of the course of a few years. I was also on a very strong regimen of narcotics for two years prior to my back surgeries. It was the first attempt to avoid the surgeries in the first place. But I couldn't accept the medications for the rest of my life because I felt it changed who I was as a person. It didn't make my quality of life better if I wasn't actually living my life as 'me.' So I took myself off the medications (under Dr. supervision of course) and went ahead with other routes. The implant came after all attempts at everything else. Keep in mind you don't have to have all my conditions to qualify. It's for chronic pain, period.
After months of trial and error with injections I had a consultation with my pain management Dr about the implant, and then they set a date to do what is called the "trial period." (The trial lasted about a week and a half.) This was a small procedure with light sedation (similar to injections) where the Dr put a temporary set of leads inside my spine.
These are the actual set of temporary leads that were put in my spine for the trial period. My Dr told me to keep them as a souvenir. He's funny like that.
It is a device (as we've established) that is implanted in your back and attached to leads that are attached to your spine, and the device sends impulses through you body (upper or lower, depending on where you get the implant.) If you click here, this will tell exactly how it works to stop pain. (It will open a new page in your browser.) Okay... back to the trial, they bandaged me up like a mummy... well only my back, but I felt like a mummy. Here were my bandages on my back:
So a week and a half later, the Dr removed my leads (no special procedure, he did it right in the patient room.) Then I had to take a course of strong antibiotics to keep safe from any possible infection due to the work on my spine, and we set the date for the implant for about 6 weeks later (they have to let your spine heal from the trial and make sure there was no infection or bad effects from the leads.) (But in order to qualify for the implant after the trial, you have to have received at least 50% or more pain relieve during the trial, FYI.)
6 weeks later (roughly) it was surgery day. This is a major surgery and they will cut through a lot of muscle and tissue to get to all the places they need to put the implant in. Here is a pic of the implant (I borrowed it from this article here, where you can also get more info on the Eon:)
They will even be with you in the OR during your trial procedure and your surgery. You want them there too. Your BFF has a master remote, and they can control all the impulses your body feels...they can even turn the impulses up REALLY high. Be sure to stay their BFF!
Okay, I've decided to cut it here for now and write a part 2 of the blog. I will pick up with what happened after surgery & explain all that good stuff in the next blog (ie, what to expect during recovery, how long, etc.) This is enough info to process for now. In the meantime, you can read all about this nifty device at Poweroveryourpain.com