Re: SPINAL CORD STIM MESS

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On 5/19/10, Sharon B wrote:
> I went thru a trial in Jan 10 where they pulled the lines
> in 2 days because they were so positional and painful in
my
> neck. In one month they did another trial and put in 2
> peripheral leads and the trial went well. In March they
did
> the implant putting 2 cervical leads in and 2 peripheral
> leads. Sadly, this was a disaster. The surgeon put the
> lines in my back and out to the muscle and connected the 4
> lines with connectors and then looped extra line under
> these connectors and put all of this mess between my
> shoulder blades. He then ran the 4 lines down my back
> inside a tube. This looked like a garden hose sticking out
> of my back and it was all over my back down to my butt.
> The IPG was placed at the top of my butt cheeck and that
> also had 2 connectors and then a large loop of line coiled
> up underneath that. So, in the end all of this equipment
> stuck way out of my skin and hurt worse then my pain that
I
> started with. I couldnt press my back against ANYTHING.
The
> pain was unreal. The reps from ANS said they have never
> seen a mess like this and the surgeon ignored me and told
> me to wait it out for 8 weeks to see if the swelling went
> down. He continued to tell me that I am too thin. I am 125
> pounds..far from TOO thin. I just dont have alot of body
> fat..a normal body. He couldnt bury the line coming down
my
> back so it everything showed. It was UGLY. The surgeon
sent
> me to a plastic surgeon to see if he could put cadaver
skin
> on top of all of this equipment it wouldnt stick up so
much
> but the plastic surgeon basically laughed and said I have
> no idea what your surgeon did to your back. It took 8
weeks
> of having to lay on my side with my arms spread over a
> pillow in order to get this surgeon to see me and address
> this issue and he really didnt think it was a problem. It
> looked horrid. I called other surgeons and no one wanted
to
> deal with the mess. I couldnt move my arms or allow my
> shoulder blades to press together, couldnt sit against
> anything, couldnt lay on my back, couldnt drive and no one
> would listen. When he finally agreed to see me, he said he
> wasnt sure if he believed that this was really a problem
> but if I wanted him to try to fix it, he would. Mind you,
> my insurance company paid OVER $300,000 for the 2 trials
> and the one implant surgery..all in error but they
> said "its not your money why do you care if it was
> overpaid"? I went back into the operating room for the 4th
> time to see if this clown could fix this and he basically
> told me, Im not sure if I can fix this and that this was
> HIS fault because I was too thin and he shouldnt have put
> this in. I think thats just a poor excuse for sloppy work.
> I laid there naked and he didnt see that this caused a
huge
> bump in between my shoulder blades? He didnt see that the
> IPG stuck way up? He didnt see that the tube he put in my
> back looked like a garden hose? He must have been smoking
> crack. The morning of my surgery I was a wreck and he
> basically told me that he didnt know what he could do for
> me and that he may just have to pull it all out. I said
to
> him "if I leave here unhappy today, I will drag you thru
> the court system for years." He made me such a wreck that
> morning because he was unsure of himself. In the end..this
> all has turned out as ok as it could be. I still have a
> line in my back that sticks out and hurts when I sit
> against anything. The IPG still sticks way out and hurts
> when it presses against anything. In between my shoulder
> blades is a whole lot better, but everything still hurts
to
> press my back against anything. I really wish that I
> wouldnt have done any of this. Its been a distasterous
mess
> and in the end...the bill came to over $400,000...I never
> ever expected that this procedure would have turned into
> this kind of a mess. Im a Registered Nurse and well
> educated and just cannot believe that this happened to me.
> If I could go back, I would never have done this.... The
> spinal cord stim works well and I really am thrilled with
> St Judes Staff with the ANS stimulator. If it werent for
> them, I would never have gotten thru this. I wish anyone
> going thru this good luck and I hope that no one else has
> this experience.
> Be well all
same here ! looks like a hose sticking out my back ! and
stimalator works on my ribs and stomic. now my whole body
hurts like i have never felt b4. good luck to you !