Well this evening marks the last full day of my SCS trial. My appointment with my St. Jude rep and Dr.S is tomorrow morning at 10:15am. This is when the leads will be removed and we are supposed to discuss whether or not I will move forward with the SCS implant surgery. I've been saying my goal was to have a decision on that by tomorrow, but I'm not sure I'm going to reach that goal now. Too many uncertainties and questions have come up about the implant and how it will affect me compared to the trial, and I'm just not sure for right now what I feel is best.
As I've been saying all week, I have had extreme pain in my back and I know that has had an impact on how I've been able to judge the stimulator on my legs. My pain meds haven't even been helping with the back pain. It has been very difficult at night for me to get comfortable in bed no matter how I try to sleep. As far as the SCS goes, I haven't been able to get the coverage I need during this week which was vital in making my decision. Most of my pain has been in my upper outer legs, and I've had to just try to bare with that as my stim didn't touch there. When talking to my other St. Jude rep today, he said he thinks the paddle leads will get much better coverage, but he also feels the implant surgery will be much harder on me than the average person based on how the trial went. That's a big plus and negative all in one phrase. There's never a guarantee on any surgery and I know this. It's all about percentage for me. What percent this surgery should be successful is a BIG factor for me. We will talk to everyone at the appointment tomorrow about the lurking questions and though I don't think I will have a decision tomorrow, perhaps we will get a little closer. One of the reps also wants to play with the programming a little to see one more time if they can get any new coverage before we remove the leads. It is sure to be insightful one way or another tomorrow. Hopefully for the better. I will hopefully post more after the appointment, including my questions and their answers. Good night everyone!
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