This is my first time back to this blog in a long time! So many things have been happening that kept me very busy. Busy and frustrated! I didn't have time to write and didn't want to fill the blog with complaining instead of encouragement! So I just didn't write. On another day, I will write about these past 5 months! For now, I want to share with you the process of getting a spinal cord stimulator (SCS) and a few of the emotions that went along with it! Warning: it may be long - don't know how to write about the emotions without a little explaining first! Bear with me! :)
My husband, Dick was in a horrific accident 14 years. At the time, he was so banged up and bruised that they couldn't see much on X-rays and scans through all those bruises and damage. He kept complaining with his hip hurting, and they checked his hip again and again, with no broken bones showing. Much to our dismay, two years later they realized that his back had been broken in two places and not found. Therefore, they healed on their own and not in the correct position! He has gone to a pain doctor since that time. And has had just about any treatment that they could do to help relieve some of the pain from the arthritis and other problems caused from those injuries!
Finally after many months of going off of blood thinners and other medicines, he was scheduled to go into the office and have a Trial SCS inserted into his spine. Pain is an electrical signal that travels along the spinal cord up to the brain. The SCS is implanted in specific areas of the spine that masks the pain signals to the brain. So the trial is where they insert wires up into your spine and the wire physically comes out and is attached to a "little box" which is the SCS. They have one stitch holding the wires in for this 4-5 day trial. You wear the box on a belt around your waist! The purpose of the trial is to make sure the SCS works for the patient. Each person is different in their pain and what helps and what doesn't! After the trial you go back into the office and it is all taken out of your spine! If it has helped you will then make an appointment for the permanent implant which is scheduled within a couple of weeks (hopefully).
We were scheduled for the trial on Friday afternoon, September 19th! For months we have waited for this and anticipated it! You can't begin to imagine the hope you have and the longing for this to work! When you live with chronic pain as the patient and as the caregiver, you pray for anything to help! So Friday morning, I had to get up early because we had several deliveries and things that had to be done for the business before we left for Charlotte. When I found myself on the verge of tears, I realized just how nervous I was. Nervous for the actual procedure and nervous for the end result! I immediately texted several friends and had them start praying! Their encouragement was just what I needed at that time! I knew they would be praying all through the day! I got myself together some and came home to get Dick and head to Charlotte.
Our appointment was at 1:30 (one hour before the trial). That was for prep that needed to be done such as vital statistics and starting IV's. The doc came in and the representative from Boston Scientific. They answered any questions we had and we were ready to go. Well, apparently there had been a delay in the operating room, so there we sat! And Sat....and sat....and sat....for about 1 hour and 15 minutes! Talk about not doing much for the nerves! I was trying to make sure that I didn't show my fears or nervousness to Dick. I was trying to be that calm presence that he needed. But boy was I getting apprehensive! Finally at 3:45 they took Dick in for the procedure! I sat and waited in the waiting room. I answered emails, I made phone calls and tried to keep myself busy! Just as I was beginning to worry about why they hadn't called me yet, the nurse came to get me!
Then the process of programming the stimulator to Dick's personal pain levels began! We received many instructions! Things to do - things NOT to do! As I am standing there, the nurse looks at me and asks if I have any questions. For some some reason I just asked her if it was unusual for me to be so nervous that I was about in tears. She looked at me and said, "You are nervous because you are afraid it won't work". Boy did she hit the nail on the head! That was exactly what it was! She gave us some additional information and then told me to believe in the product. It had helped others and she was confident it would work for him too!
So we left the office at 5pm. We were in Charlotte! Have you ever been in Friday afternoon 5pm traffice in Charlotte? Not a fun place! But as we started on the way home we discussed our hopes and dreams for this product! I told him that when we left the office he was actually walking upright! He hadn't done that in months and years. But he was walking straight! That is the first thing I noticed and the first thing that my son and his wife noticed that night! At that point he was getting used to the sensations of the stimulator and adjusting it to the right levels. (Oh, did I forget to mention he has a remote for it? Yes, he has a remote to turn it up and down!) Then as he began to relax, Dick went to sleep. I wasn't surprised. He never slept much and especially didn't sleep great on the night before a procedure! As he is sleeping, I am listening to one of my favorite stations, 106.9 The Light! I was singing along, praying for this to work and my nerves were still getting the best of me! Then one of my favorite songs came on.....It's A Beautiful Day by Jamie Grace. It's an upbeat song that makes you bounce and sing along! So it gets to the second verse and WOW! I was blown away! God was using this song to speak straight to my heart! The verse goes like this:
When trouble seems to rain on my dreams
It's not a big, not a big deal
Let it wash all the bugs off my windshield
Cause You're showing me, that in you I'm free
And You're still the refuge
That I have to get to...
WOW oh WOW! Did God just send me this song? I just need to trust and take my refuge in him! And it was a Beautiful Day!!!
I wish I could say that my nerves stopped then and were quiet the whole weekend! Nope, that didn't happen! Everytime Dick moved or looked like something hurt, I was asking if it was his back or his knee! But praise the Lord, til now the stimulator is working and making a huge different in his pain levels. Before he received this he was taking anywhere from 2 to 4 pain pills per day! Since the trail started he has taken one per day! What a difference! I have described the feeling we have is like holding your breath! You are hopeful and think it is going to work, but you are holding your breath so nothing will make it stop working! We are still apprehensive, but we have faith that God has sent us in this direction to give him some relief and the ability to live life a little more fully! Pray with us for continued good results!!!
