What should I do?

[peiti]

Last Thursday I saw my urogyno and he told me if I was not happy with the results of InterStim, I can have a revision. I have the stimulation at my left side of S2. He also said S3 might be a better spot for me.

I am so sad now, I don't know if he knew what he was doing at the first time. In addition, I always have pain in my right hip, around the spot behind my bladder. Every time when my bladder is in pain, I feel painful in my right lower back nerve. I thought it might be a help if I could have stimulation on the problem area. But my dr doesn't think that way. He thought since I had pain in right hip, so he should place the lead and IPG in the left. Do you have the lower back pain? Do you think the lower back pain is related to IC?

Thanks for input.

[Dixiefireball]

i'm sorry i don't know enough about the stim to help you out hopefully one of the other ladies or men who has it will be by soon to help you out.
sending you hugs and prayers
Rhonda

[rachelm]

Peiti,

I know exactly the pain you describe. I've got constant hip, low back and pelvic pain that is sharp at times and always like a deep ache in the bones. I now know that it is caused from the bladder spasms which is why I don't hurt if I'm not flaring. As you may have read I just did the stage trial and I'm finally seeing some improvement after 5 days which is longer than the first less invasive trial I had in feb. I had pain relief almost completely within a week to where I could go off the morphine. I'm more sore now with the incisions and I'm thinking that's why it's taking my body longer to respond to the stimulation.

I think my dr. said he has the wires on the S3 nerve both right and left. My right side has been plugged in and the pain seems to be less there. My dr. is giving me a second box tomorrow to see if that helps the pain on the left. He is considering putting in one on each side so both sides get enough stimulation to decrease the retention and alleviate the spasms bilaterally that are causing the deep pain.

I hope this has been helpful. How much experience does your dr. have with this procedure? If your having questions maybe you could talk with another dr. that implants the InterStim.

Hang in there! I know this is tough! I am praying for you to get some relief!:pray:

Rachel:kiss:

[littlebear]

Hi Peiti,

I'm so sorry to hear about your pain. Because that's not my biggest problem, I don't really know very much about those issues. I hope that Rachel's answers helped, though.

You're so smart to take a step back, ask around, and give this some thought, though. I'm sure it can be overwhelming when your Drs. experience is an issue.

I thought I'd try to send a few reassurances your way, though. I think that your Dr. probably had some reason to choose the S2 initially instead of the S3 and I also think I remember you saying that, when your surgery was performed there were other folks in the operating room (a rep? some drs. who had performed the procedure before?), who probably had experience witnessing and interpreting patient responses to stimulation. Of course, that doesn't make anything better for you right now. And, of course, only you know the specifics of the situation you've been in for the last few months and that you're in at the moment. In the end, after you take a little time and space to process it all, your heart and good judgement will tell you the right thing to do.

Let us know how you're doing and keep us posted. We're all behind you 100%!

Sending you all my best wishes, little bear