What was your experience with a pain pump?

I have a one hour ride both to and from most all my doctors. My husband drives me. He has handled all the home by himself. I depend on him. We also have dogs and cats to care for. At least I can still do meds for them. My pump is now to go in on July 6 th. Then the doctor I have test it for a week with saline befor putting in the meds. I will try to keep you up as I go.

My pump goes in the 6th of July. Then test with saline for a week. I will try to post as I go along.

I had a Medtronics pain pump for 8 years, using a cocktail of morphine and a couple of other drugs to manage chronic lower back pain due to trauma. (2008-2016) My experience was this. It took a while to find the dosage and mixture of drugs to reduce the pain. Once it was found, I had about 75% relief with occasional break through pain that could only be managed by lying down. This was quite the improvement, however the trade off was brain fog and short term memory loss. But when you’ve lived with severe pain for years, even that trade off may be acceptable. The pump had a battery life of 8 years and I was within months of that when it mysteriously stopped working all together. My pain doctor just shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. I suppose he thought I was just trying to get a higher dose. When I finally went to another pain doc, the first thing he said was that he needed to check the integrity of the line that ran from my pump to my spinal cord. He said that model of Medtronics pump was notorious for twisting and splitting. Long story short, it turned out that the line was indeed split and instead of going to the spinal cord, the meds were just spewing into my abdominal cavity (the pump was implanted in my abdomen). He said newer models had fixed the problem and since it was almost time to replace the pump anyway, he said we could go ahead and do that. However, he also gave me the option of trying a spinal cord stimulator instead. I liked the idea of ditching the heavy opioids, so we did the trial. It seemed to work OK, however I did feel a bit pressured by the doctor and gave the go ahead to replace my pump with the stimulator (the battery went into the same space where the pump was). Although he went through the motions of “weaning” me off of the drug, a day after the surgery to remove the pump I went into full blown withdrawal and had to stay an extra couple of days in the hospital. It was horrific and it took 5 months of methadone treatment to completely withdraw. I wouldn’t wish that experience on my worst enemy! The spinal cord stimulator never lived up to its hype. After 6 years of fiddling with the program, the technicians never were able to get it to work for me. It was a huge disappointment and waste of time and money. So, you might ask if I would go back to the pump. At this point in my life, no. I am 63 years old and have lived with severe chronic pain for 20 years now. While it has wrecked my life (my husband left me and I can’t work), the idea of taking heavy a dose of opioids again is daunting. I currently take morphine and hydrocodone orally, but limit it to once daily (usually at night) because twice daily made it less effective. At my age and with no one around to help out, I just can’t justify bathing my brain in powerful narcotics with a pump anymore. That’s not to say that it’s not the answer for others. Just thought I should share my experience.

She might have better results with another medication. Not sure if the Pain doctor or Medtronics rep has suggested trying different medications in the pump.

Thanks. Just starting to talk about that now but getting Dr appointments is a joke...4 weeks between visits.

Thanks for your reply. I do want to hear about your experience with this and your successful outcome!
I’m an hour and a half from the pain center in Portland that my neurologist is sending my referral. My husband or my older son will be driving me but there will be daily things going on I’ll try to find a way to stay overnight up there if I have to. Even the ride is too much for me. You’ll be in my thoughts and prayers. Barbara

How are you? I’m hoping the pain pump procedure went well and you are feeling ok.

I had my pain pump put in yesterday. So far so good. The doctor put it on my back. I’m 5 ft 11 in. And pretty fat so there was plenty of room. He said that it would be better to put grandkids in my lap. He does a lot of these. I go back in 12 days to get the meds in it. Then we work it out. They said be patient. I have been. For a long time. Lol.

It sounds like the procedure wasn’t complicated and that you are encouraged. Did you go home yesterday after having it done? I’ve never heard of the pump being in the back but it’s better for sitting with grandkids then I’m all for it! I’m sorry you have to wait to start the medication and hopefully the first med will be the perfect choice for you! I haven’t heard from the facility that will be inserting a pain pump and if I qualify. Im thinking the paperwork on both ends will take some time so im not holding my breath. I have found a lovely VRBO rental near the hospital where I will feel safe and cozy if I need to stay nearby like some folks do.
Please keep me posted. You are still in my thoughts and prayers.
Barbara

How are you doing? I’m sure you’re probably dealing with pain and recuperating but I hope you are doing well and are more comfortable than you expected. You mentioned that you would be going in every day for the first week while the doctors test your pump with saline. I hope the first medication they give you works perfectly and gives you the pain relief you need. When you get back to the support group please let us know how you are doing.
Thoughts and prayers ~ Barbara