Redefining a Life*

Chad's four-year-old son loves to wrestle with his dad, often running up behind him and jumping onto his back. "There's no way that would have been okay before," Chad explains. Like many people, this 37-year-old Rolla, Missouri man suffers from chronic pain. But Chad has found pain relief and says he owes his current lifestyle largely to the pain therapy called neurostimulation.

Chad's pain began at work when he reacted to a back cramp by twisting his body. What he thought was muscle pain was, in fact, damage to his lower spine, which would cause persistent, sharp nerve pain in his legs, arms, and lower back. "It was like a hot railroad spike was being driven into my knees," Chad describes.

Against taking prescription narcotics, Chad tried other treatments, including a discectomy, nucleoplasty, and epidural injections. Almost a year after his injury, Chad underwent a spinal fusion surgery, which allowed him to return to work and resume his old routine. After about a month, the constant and repetitive nature of Chad's work exacerbated his nerve damage and caused him greater pain than before. "The pain was so severe that I was shaking," Chad says. "I haven't worked since."

Not only did Chad's chronic pain keep him from working, it also kept him from doing other activities he loved and marred his personal relationships. Refusing to let his pain define him, Chad continued seeking pain relief. He learned about neurostimulation from his interventional pain physician, and after trying a neurostimulation system for a few days, he agreed to have one permanently implanted.

"I can now do anything I did before, a little at a time," he says.

Since getting his neurostimulation system, Chad again enjoys swimming, and spending time with his family. He is also completing his bachelor's degree at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla and recently started a chemical engineering internship with Valspar Corporation in Garland, Texas.

Neurostimulation relieves all of Chad's pain almost all the time—success that he attributes to the excellent quality of both his spinal fusion and his neurostimulator. "Because of my neurostimulator, I am where I am today," says Chad. "Without neurostimulation, I would be forced to exist on narcotics and bedrest, living in isolation and misery."

*The above testimonial is the experience of this individual only. It is an individual result and we do not claim that it is representative of the experience that all or most patients achieve and is not indicative of future performance or success.

	**
**This website may provide links to other websites not affiliated with SJM.  SJM is not responsible for the content of other sites.