Good morning, its 10:30. First off thanks to the people that have asked me how I have been doing. Things are going alright. Every thing feels fuzzy but that is from the medication. Yesterday was a good day as I was able to only take 3 dilaudid pills instead of 4( equivalent to 30mg of morphine instead of 40mg) Thinking and typing is a little hard for me right now, but I wanted to give everyone a update on how the apt went yesterday. The apt was with my doctors assistant and she went over the procedure again. My Dad was able to come, which helped to give him a clearer idea on what was going to be done. To make it easier for some people I have found pictures to give a clear explanation.
This picture above shows the right occipital nerve. My headaches are all right sided based so I have very little to no pain on the left side. As you follow the nerves up you can see how the pain travels up the back side of my head and into the forehead area. The leads shown below are in a enlarged side but will be placed around the right occipital nerve right near cervical disk 1 or C-1. They are placing 2 leads with 8 electrodes on each lead
The wire on these leads are about the thickness of hair and are very hard to damage. The wires will then be tunneled down the inside of my back and be wired into the battery shown below. The battery will sit in the right side of my lower back (just below the belt line) The battery should last 8-9 years and then will need to be replaced. We have decided to go with a non rechargeable battery The size of this battery is 2.6 inches high x 1.9 inches wide and 0.6 inches deep. The weight of the battery is 2.4 ounces.
This is what it will look like when it is all put in
I will then be able to control the stimulation settings by a very small remote. I have been told it is very easy to use and can have 100's of different settings. It will be set from a low range to a high range. I will then be able to adjust then amount of stimulation at any given time. I can also change the impulse ranges, frequencies and areas stimulated. This remote will also tell me the status of the battery at any given time.
I hope this gives people a clear idea on what is going to be done. Please feel free to ask any questions. The surgery is going to be Wed April 25th at Kaiser North. They say that the operation will be about a hour and from the time I get there to the completed time will be 4 hours. As of now it is not known if I will be staying overnight or going home the same day. The Dr said that decision will be made after surgery is completed. After surgery the stimulation will be active and the pain should be very minimal. Right now I am off work until June 6th and as some people know I am already going crazy :) The surgeon made it very clear that once every thing is healed I will be fully cleared to return to work with no restrictions. This last week has really been a battle for me both emotionally and physically. Again I want to thank my family and friends for checking on me each and every day and supporting me through this. I also want to thank my fantastic wife Nicole for being there and supporting me (especially over this last week) All of you really mean alot to me! Again please feel free to keep in touch as I miss all of you!
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