Hi, Cronulla,
I ended up getting a Nalu PNS device, which has been available in the US since June. Doctors rave about its advanced technology and say it’s much better than Stimwave. My implant was done on Feb 7 and the device was activated two weeks later. Unfortunately, some major mistakes were made. The system uses a tiny implanted receiver that’s placed just under the skin and takes “orders” from a therapy disk on the outside of the body. The doctor placed my implant in a spot where it can’t communicate well with the therapy disk. Now I need a second procedure — a much simpler one — to move the implant two or three inches away from where it is now. At the same time the doctor made this mistake, the clinician from the company made errors in programming the two therapy disks, and they malfunctioned from the start. A diagnostics program proved that I was describing the malfunctions accurately — in fact, it was much worse than I said. Now the disks and the remote control are in the hands of an engineer and I’m waiting for a date for my corrective procedure. All this took place over the past week, and I am absolutely worn out from stress and frustration. But I know from the brief periods it actually worked that it does WORK. It blotted out the awful nerve pain I’ve suffered since my widespread pelvic/sacrum fractures five years ago. I think I would have been happy with Stimwave, because the trial was perfect. I expect to be happy with the Nalu device once it’s working properly. The mistakes were made by people and do not reflect on the device itself. There are things about it I don’t like, but that’s true of Stimwave too. The biggest problem with Stimwave is finding a way to attach the rather large external battery pad to the body. For me, it would have to be in the middle of my back, and there’s no way I can attach it or remove it myself. During the trial, my husband had to handle it. Although I dislike the Nalu therapy disks, the advantage is that they can be placed anywhere — as long as the doctor puts the little internal receiver in the correct place! So to manage pain in the rear and bottom of my pelvis, I can wear a disk on my side, where I can see it and put it on and take it off myself. I am beyond frustrated by the people errors but very hopeful about getting substantial relief once the mistakes are corrected.

Sandy

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