Have Any Of You Heard Of This Type Of Surgery?

[Winnie G]

The word came yesterday that my husband has received military approval for sugary to relive him of chronic pain.

Five years ago he was on a battle fitness drill witch is a 30 Km run and test of battle ability. At the end of the day he dropped his full pack and stepped off the sidewalk for a foot check, this is done after every long military exorcise. To check feet for blisters that might need treatment. He stepped in to a prairie dog twisting his ankle.

To make a long story short he was miss diagnosed and now has nerve damage all the way up to his knee and suffers from chronic pain that require him to take pain meds by the hand full. The military sent him last year to a special pain clinic that deals with permanent long term pain patients. They have offered a change of meds to a shrink that teach you to mange pain.

Finley they came up with spinal cord surgery. Its new and there has only been thousand done in Canada. The VA and Ottawa looked in to it before they gave their approval for the surgery. My husbands doctor a major told him it was approved.

They will run a wire in to the part of my husbands spinal cord that controls the pain sensors for that part of his leg and ankle. It will run under the skin to a control box like a receiver. It is suppose act like a TV controller. Ed will have to pass a controller over the receiver and it will interrupt the pain sensors in his spinal cord for that part of his leg.

My first thought was are you NUTS! Then the major told us he would not approve this surgery till he know more about it and asked the VA and headquarters in Ottawa to look in to it.

At this point, my husband would take a witch doctor throwing bones and swing a dead cat to give him one hour free of pain.

In the mean time he was put on limited duties all this time, that have now become only half days at work and rest.

The army cannot release him till they have gone their best to make him better or get him to the best medically. To a man, who has been a soldier for 26 years this has been vary hard. He is one of those guys that has to be in the front of the pack no matter the pain.

When he turned 30, the younger men mostly privets of course started to call him the old guy or grandpa. He would come home so beat up from his day I would rub him down with Ben-gay and remind him he did not have to prove himself. That of course feel on def ears.

The VA will give him a pension and the military as well. They have to pay for any education he might require to be in the civilian work force. He wanted to do air traffic control but he has given up on that since the meds kept getting more and more.

My question is have any of you heard of this type of surgery?

[lisajo]

I have heard of something similar before, but i wonder how much a wire and a box would also cause some pain, Best of luck!

[StrawberryFields]

Winnie said "He stepped in to a prairie dog twisting his ankle"

Dare I ask what that is?

I have not heard of that surgery.

[Winnie G]

Prairie dog is a prairie gopher like mammal.

Their cute but made a mess out of the land.

The wire and receiver is the size of a pacemaker. The controller is the size of a TV remote control, at lest that is what has been explained to us.

Ed is at a seminar for those army members that are retiring soon.

He came home for lunch and took me out to eat. he found out because of his disability he is eligible for a lot more VA benefits then others, including all the drug coverage and dental and extra medical benefits. Like Chiropractics and eyeglasses etc.

I like days like this he sees things on a happier note and can see past the pain.

The army has been his life since he was sixteen and has enjoyed the constant change of duties and going all over the world has not been bad ether.

That has always been my worry once he got out he would be board and drive me nuts.

As far as the pain of the wire and receiver he says he can live with that it’s the leg that throbs and nerve stops hurting. The nerve bundle behind his knee is contently firing and he has taken meds for seizers for the past three years on top of huge doses of pain meds.

To give you a idea of how bed it is Oxycodone does not touch the pain.

The meds for seizers cuts it in half and large doses of codeine and sleeping pills and anti-depressants are a every day thing for him.

He is a stubborn man and head down in to the wind kind of person.

Oh off topic for a sec, at lunch this man walked up and said to Ed "what’s your name?

I think we were posted here together in the 80’s"? they did the dance of “who are you” for a wile and then he said "I remember now you’re the guy that use to bounce at the bar in town"? Ed said "yes I did", this guy laughed and said "you bounced me out on my @#$ more times then anyone".

Times have changed if you know my husband now. He calls it BC Before Church. It was funny. Ed knocked out a couple of his teeth too. He does not hold any anger. He just

laughed.

[Josie]

Have heard of something similar to this, and I understand where your husband is coming from. I am sure anything feels like it is worth a try at this point to him. I wish you the best of luck, both of you and hope it is a success.

[Outshined]

Originally posted by Strawberry Fields@Nov 30 2005, 10:52 AM

Winnie said "He stepped in to a prairie dog twisting his ankle"

Dare I ask what that is?

I have not heard of that surgery.

←

This is a prairie dog!

[BenRaines]

My sister had a similar surgery from a fall. She had an implant done and it worked quite well for some time. This was done at Stanford Medical Center. After some time it quit working. I don't remember if it was due to the wires or what. Now she has an implant that dispenses morophine. She triggers it manually as needed. It has a block to keep from over medicating. Something she will live with the rest of her life. She has been working on this for 20 years. She is 49.

[Winnie G]

MAN that is one fat prairie dog!

HOLY HOCKEY PUCKS! (It a Canadian thing)

When I first arrived on base, it was kind of a back word transfer I came first then my husband fallowed. Because of his injuries, his massage arrived late. I was the move coordinator as the base closed at one end and I was here for the arrival of 750 new families.

So It was not hard to notice that the base had a lot of prairie dogs.

The hill near my office were the kids slide in the winter was infested.

No big deal I like Gods little mammals.

So one day I was heading to work and this prairie dog ran out on the road and started this wearied disco dance and rolled in the dust in front of my car????

That afternoon I was in my bosses office and this other prairie dog out side her window started to do the same thing.

I said “what is with the prairie dogs one did that in front of my car this morning”!

She said “Oh the base is gassing them they do it after school is going on because it up set the children last year” “there gassing them”? “Yup”

I looked out the window later that afternoon and there was this man in rubber boots with a sprayer walking around sticking his wand down the holes.

I thought “He is going all Kevorkian on those prairie dogs”!

It made me sick. I did not see someone picking up dead prairie dogs after him.

I thought my kids would have stoned him!

We were a kind of Guiana pig hamster type family.

If the kids on base know that there sledding hill was filled with 100’s of dead prairie dogs. They would freak and never slide there again.

Yah-Yah! I know I should not go all Green Peace over prairie dogs but dame there cute aren’t they ?

[pushka]

Awww...Winnie, that's such a sad story!!! Rotten base men! Rotten!!!!