Having surgery Friday

[jchebert1979]

I haven't been frequenting the board a lot lately, or shooting for that matter, due to my pain issues. For those who are unfamiliar or don't remember, my story is here: http://www.bayoushooter.com/forums/showthread.php?103006-My-Story-(Very-long-read-and-pics)/page3. Well this Friday I will be having surgery to implant an intrathecal morphine pump. Basically it is a small device about the size of a pacemaker that is implanted under the skin in the lower abdomen. A catheter is placed from the pump directly into the spinal cord so that the pain medication is delivered directly to the nerves. It drastically reduces the dosage (by approximately 1/300th) and usually gives better pain relief. Since the medication is delivered to the nerves and bypasses other organs, the side effects are greatly reduced as well. I may still need to take oral medication for breakthrough pain however; I am hoping that this will be greatly reduced as well.

Being that I have had so many surgeries a lot of which were much more major than this one, I am not nervous about it at all. What I am nervous about are the results. I have been in so much pain for the past 6 years that I just need some relief. Not only that but this is the end of the line in pain management. After this, nothing more can be done. While I have heard "this should fix you" when it didn't so many times, I am still trying to stay optimistic. Only time will tell. I have read life changing stories about how well the pump worked but I have also read stories about how much of a failure it was. Hopefully I will be one of the success stories.

 

[doc ace]

Good luck man. You're in my prayers. All will be okay!

 

[Jack]

Awesome, hopefully this is a big step in the right direction for you.

 

[bayougump]

Good luck man. I have been living with intractable pain for nearly 10 years and after 3 lower back surgeries and the last one I had last summer where fused 3 discs with 6 screws and 2 rods I am praying that I will not get to the point of a pain pump. Chronic pain just sucks the life out if you sometimes. Wish you the best and hope relief finds you.


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[Pas Tout La]

Good luck and I hope all turns out well. To quote Kyle Lamb, "Stay in the fight!"

 

[SpeedRacer]

Best wishes man, stay positive. I'm excited to hear the results.

 

[AustinBR]

I look forward to hearing about your swift recovery. Good luck!

 

[Robbie]

+1

I look forward to hearing about your swift recovery. Good luck!

 

[bonewagon]

Prayers for you and hope for a swift recovery. God bless and let us know how you do. Later....

 

[tim9lives]

Good Luck and Godspeed for good results / recovery.

 

[charlie12]

You are in my prayers let us know how you're doing when you can

 

[Gerberman]

Prayers sent!

 

[jchebert1979]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all of your support. I'll most likely get online after the surgery to let my family and friends know how it went so I will post an update. After that I will probably be in a good amount of pain because of the low dosage they will start me with. I will still have oral medication but it will be a bit tricky trying to wean down on it while going up every week on the pump. Either way, I'll keep you guys up to date on my progress.

One thing that I was just thinking about. Since it is going to be under the skin on my abdomen, I wonder how much it will affect me while shooting prone. I will obviously not be able to for at least a few weeks or more, I just wonder once everything heals if it will be painful or just an inconvenience. Oh well, I will have plenty of time to think about it while recovering. Thanks again everyone.

 

[2011Corvette]

In my prayers.

 

[3fifty7]

Will pray for your relief.

 

[King Ranch Man]

Best wishes man, stay positive

 

[jimdana1942]

Hope you will have a much better life ahead . My prayers are with you.

 

[jbadjones]

Prayers for a successful operation, quick recovery, and relief!

 

[jchebert1979]

The surgery is in Houma and is outpatient so of course I have to have a driver. My mom was going to bring me but an emergency came up at the last minute. I work in a drilling fluids laboratory so I called a friend at our main office. He rounded up one of our field engineers that has to go on hot shot runs when he is not off shore to bring me. I'm going to get hot shotted to surgery and back, lol.

 

[RedStickChick]

Good luck!

Outpatient stuff is always fun. And the drugs are the kicker.