Charles R*

The pain began in his leg and spread to his lower back. Sharp, intense, burning. It couldn’t be traced back to a single accident or incident. It just started.

Charles was always healthy. He liked to fish and work outside. He served as a paratrooper in the military and then worked in construction while attending college. But in 1997, at age 30, he began a 10-year battle with pain that lead him to his family doctor, three neurosurgeons, two neurologists, and two pain management doctors.

The pain made him miserable, affected his job, and drove his wife and two sons “crazy.” In the course of his pain treatments, Charles had multiple back surgeries. None relieved his pain.

“I don’t know what I’ll do if something doesn’t give,” he remembers thinking. He says at the time he was 38 but felt 75 years old. Charles finally visited a pain management physician who gave him literature about neurostimulation. On his second visit to the doctor, however, the physician told Charles he really wasn’t a candidate for neurostimulation and that he should just live with the pain, and consider disability insurance. After doing more research and talking with other pain patients, Charles searched for another doctor who performed neurostimulation. He and his wife met the specialist, spent three hours talking, and left knowing he would have a spinal cord stimulator implanted.

Today, Charles says he experiences about 80 percent pain relief from his rechargeable Eon® Neurostimulation System and is working to slowly reduce the amount of medication he has been on for years. He says his stimulator has changed every aspect of his life. He can now stand on his feet “forevermore” and his wife says he’s wearing her out with his energy. He is working again, plays with his kids, now ages 5 and 8, and recommends neurostimulation to other patients who are looking for relief from chronic pain.

If you are considering spinal cord stimulation and would like to correspond with Charles, email him at CharlesR@sjmneuro.com.