I am in the same boat as your husband. 14 surgeries in 12 years. Tried spinal cord stimulator implant but due to worsening and spreading pain we went to the pain pump. The pump did a pretty good job for 2 1/2 years but then got infected and had to come out. Not totally uncommon. Like your husband I have begged docs to cut off my arm and did try to take my life. People don't realize what intense constant pain can do to a person, especially after many years. I have no life. I agree with multiple opinions if you see the right docs. The pump is still a major surgery and it has to be done just right or it won't work very well. Good luck and God Bless.View Thread
I have gone through both the spinal cord stimulator implant and the pain pump. Of course the stimulator was so I could get off of pain meds but unfortunately the stimulator is really designed for small areas like hands or feet or maybe an arm or leg, but my problem included too large of an area. It was new when I went through the whole process so unfortunately we had to go to the next option which was the pain pump. Since this delivers meds right to the nerves in the spinal cord it requires much less of the med. Unfortunately, and not uncommon, my body rejected the physical pump inside my stomach wall and became very infected. This was 2 years after the pump was put in. The pump greatly reduced my pain but if it rejected the first it would reject any other. I was very disapointed to say the least. I am currently back on the fentanyl patches which work the best for me and the first time I tried them I was amazed how well it worked plus the fact you don't have to keep taking pills all day. Anyway, food for thought. God bless.View Thread
I have also had fusion of C5,6 & 7 with complications after due to the plate "somehow" moving and burrowing into C4 which required surgery to remove the plate. This was about 1 year from original surgery. They came about 60 seconds of killing me due to an "unexplained" bleed out in my neck cutting off my airway. When I came out of recovery I was immediately having trouble breathing. They did not listen to my complaints which resulted in emergency surgery since my airway was almost completely blocked. So a trach had to be done along with additional horrible stuff and is still the worst experience of my life having nightmares constantly and think about it daily. A lot of this could have been eliminated if I had been listened to. I HATE, HATE when I hear or read "it's all in your head". Good luck and hope things go well for you.View Thread