One month post op

I cannot believe it has been a month since my surgery!  I must say that it has been life changing in many ways.  My husband and I brought our youngest daughter on a field trip to a pumpkin patch last week and we had SO much fun!  I probably irritated them by constantly making the remark that my head did not hurt!  It was just so surreal to me.  I have not done anything fun like that without the constant stabbing pain every second and it is a completely different feeling.  We also went trick or treating with some dear friends of ours on Halloween and we had a blast!  I am so excited about going places and doing things I did not feel like doing for years.  I am still being careful though because I do not want to do anything to cause my leads to move.  I did have a little incident where my daughter went a little nutty and it was just me and her so I had to pick her up to make her get in the car.  I am hoping that everything is ok.  Now on certain settings with the stim I have started getting uncomfortable stimulation in my nose.  Yep, it feels really weird like when your hand falls asleep.  I hope that the lead in my cheek did not move around and change position.  My followup with my surgeon is in a couple of weeks so I will ask him then.  I think I am going to ask my St. Jude rep to make me a couple of more programs too.  I am back working part time also and love being back to work.  It is so different now sitting and working without saying "My head is killing me!"

Recovery is slow

I had my permanent peripheral nerve stimulator implant surgery October 1.  It was not powered up until October 3 because we had to wait until some of the swelling went down first.  I thought I would be feeling fantastic by now but unfortunately I am still VERY sore overall and having a hard time getting around.  I have learned to give up and just lie down because every time I am up and around for any amount of time my swelling increases, which causes more pain.  The headache aspect is so much better though that it is amazing.  I have only had one episode of what I call "the stabs", which the doctors call "exacerbations" since my stim was turned on.  Mostly I am just sore from the incisions and surgery itself.  I am very afraid of having my leads move as I have been hearing more and more stories of that lately so I am taking it VERY easy for as long as possible.  My husband has been extremely amazing throughout all of this.  I would not have made it without him.  My youngest daughter has been so very amazing and helpful also.  All family and friends have been great too, as well as the ONS support group on Facebook.  It is so great to have so many people to talk to when I am feeling bad, good, or whatever!  I got a new crazy haircut again, but thankfully my hair is long enough that when I leave it down it covers it up so you can't even tell.  That would not be a major issue anyway for me.  I told a doctor before that I didn't care if my whole head had to be shaved, and I still feel the same way.  My surgeon, my St. Jude Medical rep, and the whole staff that worked with me at Cool Springs Surgery Center were all wonderful.  I don't think it could have gone any smoother. 

Trial implanted!

I had the leads to my trial stim implanted Monday the 13th and had the battery hooked up and the stim turned on Tuesday afternoon.  It has only been a little over 24 hours so it has not magically taken all my pain away.  I still have quite a bit of incision pain where the surgeon made incisions and then shoved wires through those and tunneled them under the skin - is that why I am hurting ya think?!  I am hoping in a couple of days I will be able to tell more of a difference.  The stimulation does feel nice.  It feels like a light massaging sensation to me.  I would trade that for excruciating pain any day!  I will post some pictures but if you are squeamish beware the bandages do have some blood on them.  I go back next week to have the trial removed and if it was at least 50% successful in relieving my pain we will plan to do the permanent implant surgery in 2-3 weeks.  At least I have a good excuse for lots of trips to Tennessee right?!  The people there are super friendly.  The entire staff at Cool Springs Surgery Center was awesome, not to mention my wonderful surgeon Dr. Rupert and rep from St. Jude, Rod - who was very patient with me and created several programs according to what I asked him for. I have one lead that I cannot use at the moment under my eye.  It hurts to stimulate it and the area is just really sensitive.  I am just going to use the other 3 leads for now and wait to see if that area feels better soon so that I can try that lead again.