Pat's Story*

As president of a group of manufacturing companies, Pat flew regularly within the United States and to Mexico and Europe. His typical morning began at 5 a.m. with a 45-minute workout in the hotel gym. He never expected that his life would change permanently.

After developing back pain, Pat underwent what he describes as two routine back surgeries—one in 1982 and one in 1991. His life continued as usual until the summer of 1999 when his back pain increased and drastically impacted his normal routine. Pat was unable to sit in an airplane seat for long periods due to intense pain from his back all the way down to his leg. After a year of bearing with the pain, he was forced into early retirement.

Pat saw numerous doctors throughout the Southeast, endured rounds of tests, and tried numerous treatments, yet found no relief. Eventually, he was diagnosed with nerve damage resulting from a myelogram, a type of x-ray used to diagnose disorders of the spine, spinal cord, and surrounding nerves.

Pat was told that pain medication was the only option for finding relief and that he should try a new, non-addictive drug. Initially, Pat started with 10 milligrams of a pain prescription. Three years later, he was up to 300 milligrams a day. Frustrated with this pain medication and convinced another alternative existed, he searched for an answer to his chronic pain.

Ironically, after years of searching across the country for a better treatment option, Pat found relief close to home. His wife, Joanie, was introduced to a pain management physician who had an office near her physician.

This pain physician suggested Pat consider spinal cord stimulation (SCS) as an option. "He offered me an 80 percent chance that he could reduce 50 percent of my pain," Pat said. "As a business guy, those odds were hard to beat. And at this point, what did I have to lose?"

In December 2002, Pat was implanted with an SCS trial system. Shortly thereafter, Pat received a permanent system. Pat beat his pain physician's—his stimulator provides 98 percent relief. A year after his implant, Pat says, "The kid is back!"

He signed up for golf lessons and was in charge of parking at the Greg Norman Golf Tournament. With the aid of his stimulator, he was able to be on his feet 10 hours a day during the 5-day tournament.

Now Pat and Joanie fly often to see their 7 children and 24 grandchildren. Pat jokes about an additional benefit of the stimulator: "At airports, we get to jump to the front of the security line!"

To those considering SCS, Pat says, "SCS is not a universal remedy. But chronic pain sufferers whose conditions cannot be improved with surgery owe it to themselves to investigate the treatment, particularly if they are told, like I was, that drugs are their only option."

*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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