Since I’ve now had the stim­u­lator fitted for about 18 months, I thought it only right that I comment on how the first year went. First Impressions Getting home was the first hurdle. There had been plenty of warnings about the potential for back pain after the op. The pain was signi­ficant but manageable when I was either lying down or […]

This post continues the description of my exper­i­ences having a Spinal Column Stimulator fitted. The first two parts can be found at: Stimulator Assessment 1 Stimulator Assessment 2 Pre-​Surgery After having a trial device fitted, it was obvious that there was a huge amount of potential for the full device. I was told that they would expect the full device to be […]

Apologies for the long delay since my last post. It was not inten­tional! We have been away for a while and my health has suffered a little. I have also immersed myself in another project that took far too much of my time, but these are tales for a later date. This post follows on from the last one: Stimulator Assessment 1. It […]

I was referred to The Walton Centre in Liverpool to be considered for a Spinal Cord Stimulator. I live in Scotland but the procedure is not available here. This is why I had to travel so far. Unfortunately this also meant that an applic­ation had to be made to my local Health Board for funding. Obviously, this funding request was granted but […]

After several years of pain resulting from my DVT and subsequent Post Thrombotic Syndrome, I was offered the oppor­tunity to be assessed for a device known as either a Neurostimulator, a Spinal Column Stimulator or a Dorsal Column Stimulator. This is a system that is completely implanted inside the body. There are two parts to this device, a battery/​control unit and an elec­trode. These are […]

Getting the wheel­chair was probably the single biggest thing to make a difference in the first couple of years. I was on handfuls (literally) of tablets and the effects weren’t really that good! As is the case with opioid paink­illers, they become less effective over time. When they didn’t really do the job in the first place, it became more […]