I am WHOOPED! The trial is over and the lead wire is out of my back. I was having a hard time letting my fears and doubts and feelings affect my decision about how well the device was working, so I typed up an evaluation sheet (which you saw on an earlier entry). When I took it to the doc and the Medtronics nurse, they said it was a slam dunk! Their goal is only 50% improvement to be considered a success (because it is unrealistic to totally block pain). So when they saw some of my numbers at the 75% range, they were happy-happy!
It hurt like crazy when they pulled the lead wire with the electrodes on it out of my spine, but the doc was very careful, and very caring to narrate what he was doing when. He said I was a trooper. I just tried to grin and bear it and quote "this too shall pass." And it did!
I have a larger Band-Aid on, and can't get that part of my body wet for 24 hours. But they let me take a shower on my "front" and I could bend my head forward to wash my hair. So that felt good!
I called the neurosurgeon's office, and they made my presurgery consultation for August 18th. While I'm waiting, they want me to call my internist to do a surgery clearance (EKG, Chest X-ray, bloodwork and clearance of all my health problems before surgery).
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