Marine Finds Success in SCS: Mark's Story*

"Transform your body. Sharpen your mind. Crush your limits." That's the United States Marine Corps' recruitment call. Mark answered that call and proudly served his country for more than 15 years. As a Marine gunnery sergeant, Mark kept his body in top physical condition. In addition to fulfilling his job duties, which involved extremely heavy lifting, he ran five to eight miles a day, golfed, and played on the USMC softball team. That is, until he injured his back and could no longer do these things without the aid of painkillers. Mark says that, because of the level of pain he experienced, he was barely able to function.

In 1989, Mark took medical retirement from the Marine Corps and began a new mission: to find pain relief. Over the next decade, he underwent two back surgeries, a bone fusion, and took a multitude of painkillers. Mark found some relief with each, but only briefly.

While in a VA hospital in 2003, Mark recalls his physicians were attentive and actually listened to what he had to say about his pain. After trying a few less invasive therapy options, his "hero" physicians told him about spinal cord stimulation (SCS).

Mark recounts that he was ready to try anything to avoid undergoing another back surgery, but he wanted to find out as much as possible about the implant procedure. He did extensive Internet research on SCS systems and how they are implanted. When he was satisfied with the information, he consented to a trial stimulation to see if SCS would work for him.

Mark's first reaction during the trial: "Wow! This thing works." Four weeks after the trial, Mark was implanted with a permanent SCS system. More than 15 years after pain forced him to take medical retirement from the Marine Corps, Mark says, "My pain is diminished by about 60 percent, but I've dropped my medications almost 90 percent. I can walk long distances, and I can travel some now. To me, that's 100 percent success. I'm now ready to land a job where I can prove myself once again."

*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.

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