Severe chronic pain and Intrathecal pain pump

@laurenseavertson789 I am sorry, but neurosurgeons do implant pain pumps. Mine was implanted by a neurosurgeon, and I would recommend using one. It is a delicate procedure, and neurosurgeons work on the brain so they are used to delicate procedures.

@laurenseavertson789 You want a neurosurgeon to do the implant, especially given your complex back. My trial was an injection; if it helps, you are a candidate for a pump. I have Diluadid, Baclofen and Bupivacaine in mine. It took a few weeks of bumping up the dose gradually to get to the point of relief. I have a complex lumbar spine, fused L3-S1, two artificial disks at L4/5 and L5/S1 that were fused over. I also had twelve electrodes and three batteries implanted as neural stimulators and had wires running up to between my shoulder blades. I had my pump installed with that and now have all the neural stimulator hardware gone.

@jcoleary My spine is solid hardware, from C3 thru my sacrum. Plus, i have a DRG stimulator. I only have one place my stimulator can go. (left, front or back side. ) Since, my spine is fused everywhere, it doesn't matter as much. My neck is kind of bad, but my leg pain is horrendous. & i want the leg pain diminished, if possible. My PM doc said that i am limited. I also, have my right shoulder (no connection to my spine) bone on bone & torn rotator cuff . My shoulder pain is so bad, i can't lift my right arm without horrendous pain. At this time, i don't want shoulder surgery. because of all my hardware, i would have to go into an in patient rehab for 2 or 3 weeks, post surgery. I now have an aversion to any more surgery. No one wants to operate on me due to my age & all my hardware. However, i may have to get my shoulder done, as i can't take the pain. I am just tired of hurting & don't like to be helpless. My last 30 years have been non stop pain & i really don't have a life. it is all. very sad & depressing. I rarely go too far from my bed.& my life is limited Good luck to you

i am so sorry to hear about your situation & the limitations you now have. Take it from me, please try the pain pump & don't give up. I gave up, after 3 decades of severe pain & limitations, similar to yours. I don't know if things could have been different for me. but living with the severe pain & limitations is terrible. It seems that there are limits to what pain management can do. But please don't give up. Life is too precious to throw it away from severe pain. Once this happens, seems it just got worse for me. I am single & have had no life, the last 20 years. it's very depressing, & so easy to isolate & give up. hope you have a good therapist & support system. I have to use a walker & this has really limited any social life Good luck & keep me posted!

A pain pump can be implanted in the abdominal region. It is important that it be securely attached. You don't want it jiggling around. As far as a spinal cord stimulator is concerned, mine was implanted just above my left buttock. Hope this helps someone out there.

@laurenseavertson789 Hi, Lauren. Today I had an appointment with my pain medicine doctor at Mayo. My husband and I spoke to my doctor together about my pain levels being so severe. We asked about the pain pump and… well… my doctor said he wanted me to have ANOTHER MRI. He said they only implant pain pumps for cancer patients. {sigh} So I started crying. I just couldn’t help it. I was so disappointed. I couldn’t even look at my doctor for the rest of my appointment. My husband had to hold me while I was crying and finish talking to the doctor. My husband just wheeled me to the scheduling desk and we scheduled my MRI, etc.. and left. I’m not sure what to do at this point.

@kaki068 That's terrible! The pain pump was originally developed for cancer patients. That's true. But its use has expanded to include patients who have severe pain that is not well-controlled by normal means. It seems almost cruel for this doctor to refuse to schedule you for the pump. Especially seeing the pain you are in. If you look around this blog, you will find many people who have the pain pump for severe, chronic pain. You need to hustle to find another doctor who DOES the pain pump for non-cancer patients. Do an online search immediately. I wish you well.

@laurenseavertson789 Your leg pain could very likely be due to your SI joint. I read on a poster in my pain doc's office that up to 75% of people with lumbar fusions develop SI joint issues, which are not relieved by a pain pump, or at least mine wasn't. I never had sciatic pain in 14 years of back pain and 15 surgeries, only severe low back pain. One day, I developed bad pain in my buttocks, pain down the outside of my left leg and bad aching in my left knee and outside mid-calf area. I was first told it was sciatica, but a neurosurgeon said it could be the SI joint. I had a steroid injection and the pain diminished with the local anesthetic, but the steroid did not help. Last December, I had a Placental Tissue Matrix injection in both sides of my SI joint and within two weeks was almost pain free from the SI joint. It started wearing off after maybe four weeks, so I had a second set of injections in Mid-Feb and am again mostly pain free. The injections are regenerative in nature, so there is no limit on how many you can have, unlike steroids, and could lead to more permanent, or at least longer lasting, relief. The only issue is the Medicare will not cover the cost of PTM, about $800 for the injections. Medicare will however cover the cost of the injection procedure (the doctor's charge). I would ask your pain doc about them if you can afford it.

@kaki068 Think you need a new pain Doc. Not sure where you live. but there are many to choose from here in AZ I've been dealing with pain for close to 30 years. If you can find a new one, go & don't look back. I've had 3 or 4 total. not all do pain pumps, but call around. Since i am fused thru C3 thru my sacrum, i can only get CT Myleograms. Good luck & keep me posted. Dealing with chronic pain, can be so exhausting. Just dealing with all the different personalities, will wear you out.

@heisenberg34 Thank you. I can talk about it now without crying. I’m going to get this MRI and see my pain doctor where I live (who prescribes my pain medicine.) We’ll talk to him about a referral to a neurosurgeon. We’ll talk to my primary care doctor and catch him up, as well.
To say I’m so disappointed in most of my doctors at Mayo is an understatement.