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My Spinal Cord Stimulator
My name is Angela. In 1971, whilst working as a nurse, I slipped a disc in my lower back. As a result, I found that I could no longer work. I was put onto pain killing drugs, which helped to a certain degree but didn’t get rid of the pain. They tried traction to see if it would help: whilst on a hundred and forty pounds pull the pain went, but only until the traction was released, then the pain came back as badly as ever. They then carried out a laminectomy operation: this got rid of a lot of the pain but not all.
Four years later I fell down the stairs and hurt my back again. I was sent for a myelogram x-ray, using a contrast medium called Myodil. This showed I had not damaged any more discs, but showed the beginnings of a progressive inflammatory condition in my spine, called Arachnoiditis. As time went on the pain grew progressively worse, and I needed increasing quantities of medication to try to control it.
The Orthopaedic Surgeon in charge of my case did a series of three spinal fusion operations. Each of these did initially help my pain levels and my mobility but the benefits did not last. The pain just got worse than ever and my mobility deteriorated until I was in a wheelchair. At that stage I was referred to a local Pain Clinic specialist: he reassessed my pain and my problems, then sent me to see a Neurosurgeon in Oxford, with a view to being put onto the Spinal Stimulator programme.
When I was put onto the programme I was very frightened. I knew that I would have to have yet another operation to insert the Stimulator. This worried me a lot because I had already been through a lot of operations, not only those on my back but also a series of operations on both my knees. Could I go through with an operation once more? Could I cope with the postoperative pain?
Then there was the worry about the stimulator. What would this do to me, a foreign body inside me? All this kept going round and round inside my head; it was a very stressful time. I knew no one else with this, who I might talk to. I had then to wait on the hospital waiting-list, whilst they got agreement from my local Health Authority to fund the cost of the stimulator and the operation. As time went by I grew more despondent, but at the same time the prospect that the pain might be contained brought some excitement.
The waiting time passed and I was admitted and duly underwent the operation. Two days later the Technician from the company which supplied my stimulator came to see me and told me I could get quite a high percentage of pain relief; once again I was frightened, what would it feel like to have this foreign sensation pulsing through me? In actual fact the sensation was just as if I had sat on my legs too long and had pins and needles. I was amazed how well this device worked, the pain had virtually stopped and I was getting between 70 to 80% relief. It really was marvelous, all I had to do was to keep the antenna taped firmly in place and to change the batteries regularly. This lasted for nearly five years altogether.
I had an accident in which a stair-lift collapsed, throwing me against an iron railing and damaging quite badly the implanted receiver device in my chest wall. We later discovered that the wire linking the receiver to the electrodes in my spine was also damaged. This led to two further operations, first to replace the receiver unit and then later to replace the defective wire. During the waiting periods my pain level was again awful and my medication need increased again – however all was well after the operations and my stimulator continued to work well.
About five years after the original operation to insert my stimulator, it gradually started to achieve less and less. Initially this was not something I noticed but I gradually became aware of the change until eventually I found that my Stimulator was doing nothing to help with my pain. Again my medication need increased, and I was needing relatively high doses of morphine plus an assortment of other drugs. I went back to my Doctor who referred me back to the neurosurgical unit.
After waiting several months I was sent for and taken to the operating theatre as a day case under local anaesthetic so they could open up my chest wall and reassess separately the function of the receiver unit and of the electrode assembly in my spine. Unfortunately I was told that the electrodes were no longer working – something to do with scar tissue getting in the way of the electrical impulses – and a further operation was necessary. At that stage they proposed to fit a superior device which offered even better pain relief.
I then went on the waiting list for a very long time. Altogether, the waiting period from the failure of my original stimulator to the fitting of the replacement was to last over four years. During this period one equipment manufacturer (yes – the device they had planned for me) went out of business. Changes in National Health Service politics led to more stringent criteria in getting funding approval for Spinal Stimulators. And to add further complication, the responsibility for funding was passed to a different Health Authority.
Although we continued to live in Bedfordshire my GP Practice was in Northamptonshire and under NHS restructuring they were now responsible for me. All these things added to the delay. During this lengthy waiting period the quality of my life was almost non-existent. Drug doses (including Morphine) were high and my daily activities were continually restricted by pain. I felt that I was just existing, I couldn’t go out on my own or sit comfortably to do anything.
My local Pain Clinic was very helpful throughout this period but overall did little more than make a dent in the pain level. The waiting period became once again quite frightening, partly because I’d forgotten how well the stimulator works but also because I had come to fear the pain of the operation and postoperative period.
Last October I went into Hospital again. Things still did not run smoothly because my operation was deferred twice but eventually took place a week later than planned. Despite my fears the pain of the operation was no worse than the pain that I had been suffering.
The new Stimulator is working very well and again I am getting a high level of pain control. The medication dosage has come down a lot and I am once again living a full life within limits and enjoying life. The technician from the company that supplied my stimulator is very helpful and is always on the end of a phone if I need advice of any kind. I am extremely pleased that I had the Stimulator inserted, and for anyone else who was medically advised to have this done, I would strongly recommend it.
If anyone would like to get in touch with me to talk about the problems I would be quite happy to talk to them.
My name is Angela Clifford, and my phone number is 01933 410753 |
