I know I missed a post on day I, but I confess the meds they gave during the insertion made me very, very tired all day, so I fell asleep without managing a post yesterday. So I'm going to cheat a bit and post 2 days worth at once.
Day I
The insertion started off the same way all my nerve blocks have other years. They started my IV for the procedure in a side room, then the Boston Scientific (the manufacturer) rep came in to make sure I didn't have any more questions before we started the trial. My biggest question had been that the position I was going to be in for the lead insertion is a pain relieving position for me- what if I couldn't tell well enough that the wires were in the right place? They assured me they were looking for coverage of the limbs with CRPS by the tingling sensation, called paresthesia, that the wires cause and not instant pain relief.
Once my few questions were answered, we moved to a procedure room. I was laid face first on a procedure table that has a fluoroscope parked over it and I was hooked up to monitors. They gave me some partial sedation for the procedure, using a fast acting narcotic that knocked me back a few pegs. I was draped from head to toe with only a small portion of my back exposed, then the skin was cleaned. They used a bit of local numbing medication in my back to help dull the pain, too.
The doc came in and inserted hollow needles into my back at a shallow angle (nearly parallel to the back, instead of perpendicular like many docs do- perpendicular can cause issues with insertion). Once the needles were in, he double checked the locations with the fluoroscope then wires were fed in through the hollow needles into the epidural space of the spine. Once the wires were in, the hollow needles were removed, leaving the wires behind. They double checked the location of the wires with the fluoroscope, then the BS rep hooked up the wires to current and we checked for paresthesia coverage. It took a tug or two on the wires to get the proper coverage, but once we were golden, they stitched the wires to my back then covered me from my bra line to half way down my butt in tape. My mother later got a good laugh at my expense as they quite literally put tape in my butt crack. Gee, thanks doc!
Once I was cleaned up and good to go, I was walked down the hall to small office to meet again with the BS rep. The rep hooked up the temporary unit, showed me how everything worked, including the remote, and he gave me his cell phone number in case I ran into any questions along the way. After that, they scheduled me to come back Monday to go over the experience and have the wires removed, I was given a prescription for antibiotics to prevent infection, then I was sent on my way.
I'll admit when I got home, I was extremely sore. Moving was difficult both due to the soreness and due to fear of moving the wrong way and causing a jolt. These temporary trial systems aren't anchored nearly as well as a permanent unit so it can be pretty easy to give yourself a little burst of current. I haven't found any of these little jolts to be painful, just startling. A single vicodin took care of the back pain to the extent I was able to get up and move around, though for the first part of the day, I needed help getting up and down off the toilet. I even went out for dinner! Overall, a fairly uneventful day. Everything went very smoothly, and I could tell it was going to be easy to get over the initial soreness of the wire insertion.
Day II
Woke up today pretty achy- I'm a back sleeper and sleeping on top of the wires and belt for the unit (the temporary unit is worn on a white velcro belt- very fashion forward ;) ) left me sore. The soreness faded quickly and I was back up and about. I even helped a tiny bit with pie making at my moms for Thanksgiving dinner. I survived dinner at my grandmothers just fine with no bumps or major jolts. As the day has gone on, the pain from the wire insertion has faded more and more.
I'm not yet feeling any major pain relief from the hip pain, but the feeling of my tibia and fibula being shattered, which is a rather common issue for me, is greatly reduced by the paresthesia. I'm very hopeful that with time, more of the pain issues will fade. Many CRPS patients don't report full pain relief immediately- some people fell no pain relief for up to the first month. So since I'd doing so well thus far, it makes me hopeful.
My biggest concern with this whole thing has been that I wouldn't be able to handle the feeling of paresthesia. Some patients fail their trial despite excellent pain relief because the buzzing drives them crazy. So far, the buzzing is weird, but not bad or crazy-making for me. I think that in time, it would just become my new normal. Plus, if I start feeling jealous that other people get to have normal sensation in their limbs, I can just turn it off. The joy of having a handy remote control.
So far, so good. I'll keep everyone updated as we go.
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