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. 

Successful trial

Today I can joyfully say that I have had a very successful trial.  I was a little unsure at first because I had procedural pain and that pain was in the same areas as my pain normally is, making it sort of hard to decipher sometimes whether the stimulator was working or not because it was so sore there.  When I woke up on Saturday morning though, it was like the difference between night and day.  I had no headache and decided to try not taking my pain medication.  I was lucky enough to have a thunderstorm come that night also, which is one of my worst triggers.  I just changed the program on the stimulator and was good to go.  Still no pain meds.  I did get an answer to a question that I have been wondering for years now.  I wondered if I had the stim could I still get the bright red cheek that comes with the terrible headaches?  I did in fact get that bright red cheek but all the while I was chatting and laughing and felt much more like the old me.  I did make a stupid mistake though.  I got sleepy and went to bed forgetting to take my pain med (Kadian) that I have been on for almost a year now.  I woke up this morning sweating with chills and very nauseated.  It took me a few minutes to realize I had gone without taking any medication for 36 hours!  While I felt really bad for a couple hours this was still exciting that I FORGOT to take any medicine because my head was not hurting.  I am sort of emotional today.  My oldest daughter and I have not been getting along at all for a few weeks now and she even moved in with her biological father a few days before I went to Tennessee for the trial surgery, and now I am going back to Tennessee to have the stim removed but I don't want to chance infection so I will sadly give it up.  I am just not ready for trading in this wonderfully soothing massaging feeling in my head for the regular old pain pill taking, ice pack holding me.  Hopefully soon I will be headed to the permanent implant and my daughter will realize I am the best mom in the world (well one can only hope right)!