I just read your posting and thought I would jump into this fray before it gets up and running full steam. I currently have a neuro stimulator in me and it is my second one in about 6 months. Please read all I'm going to say and don't allow my experience to discourage you. I initially had a medtronic neuro stimulator single probe installed after a week trial which worked great, it was so effective I couldn't wait, and needless to say we went ahead with the implantation, and everything was good for about a month and then I started to notice I had to keep increasing the intensity of the unit to achieve the desired result and after about a month of this including the medtronic service person attempting to make it work properly it simply quit providing pain relief as it had done previously. To say I was disappointed is the understatement of the century. Long story short I now have a multi electrode probe and st. jude unit which hasn't worked properly from the beginning and has been adjusted several times by the local service rep. I'm not sure what is going on and neither do the doctors or the system maker, suffice it to say for whatever reason it no longer works for me.
Now after having said all that let me say this, if the test you have to go through is successful and it provides relief of any measurable amount then go for it and have one implanted. I think there is something weird with my anatomy, and do pray the neuro stimulator works for you in a big way. Please do keep us posted and I will answer any questions you might have for me and will try to help you in any way I can with this. Here's hoping for a successful trial!!!!!!

Thanks for your input tsj444. I did read all of your post. Glad it helped at the beginning. I do not see any real down side in trying the stimulator and hope it works for a long period of time. I know I will be starting with a two probes. From what I have learned I think alot depends on the skill of the doctor, and putting the probes in the exact right place. I'll let you know how things go next week. Thanks again.

I recently saw a doctor at the UCSF pain clinic and he talked about different types of implanted devices for pain managment. He did mention the neuro stimulator but thought I might get better results from a celiac plexus block or morphine pump which periodically injects a dose of morphine directly to the nerves associated with specific pain. A neuro stimulator seems like it might have advantages over either of those things. I will be interested in what kind of results you get and hope it helps you immensely! Best of luck! Please keep us posted.

Hey Twoduct-Talked to my pain doctor about celiac block and morphin pump also. Bigger draw backs with those because of having to keep repeating the procedure. The block only lasts at the most 6 months and the pump has to be refilled frequently. He felt that there was more risk of complications with those options due to having to repeat operations over and over. Where when the neurostim is implanted the battery lasts for several years and you do not have to keep repeating the procedure. I was supposed to get the trial today, but blood work showed an unusually high white blood count. Some kind of infection process going on and I don't know yet why. Getting more blood work and hoping to hear from doctor tomorrow. It has been rescheduled for next week.

Hey again lwall, I know I probably sounded a bit critical on my last posting about the neuro stim, but truly I do hope it works for you as I still remember my trial with the first one I got and if it works your eyes will truly light up as it removes so much pain so quickly it is incredible. I just wish mine had continued to work, and even the second one if they could figure out why it isn't working, let's face it I must have thought alot of the thing to let them take out one and repeat the whole surgical process again with a different type and different surgical location. So here's hoping it works for you a whole lot longer than it did for me.

lwall - I came to the same conclusions regarding major drawbacks of repeated procedures required for maintenance of both the block and pump. It's hard to imagine finding relief like tsj444 described with his first unit, but definitely encouraging to consider such positive results. I'm believing it will give you life-improving results and everything will go super smooth. Good luck! I'm looking forward to hearing of your success.