No worries. It means I only have one thread I need to check
Jules, Mike has been dealing with the V.A. on a regular basis for a while and he gets very good care! Well he did until his newest Dr.
This guy is at LEAST 16 and doesn't know his where to put his thumb yet! He is dealing with men and women who could probably kill him with a paper clip and he acts like they are 12 year olds. Just because you are retired (at age 38) doesn't make you a doddering old person. And just because you graduated from med school only means you have a good memory..not skills!
The level of care..before Dr. Doogie came along was outstanding. They have tested him for everthing from his eyes to agent orange. I told Mike to try to switch primary caregivers.
Walrus, Unless your meds are service connected, they aren't free. Mike doesn't pay for connected stuff but the rest is a bit less then Tricare. I refuse to do the med by mail thing because of mixups, but he has to. His controlled stuff is the worst! They are forever messing that up making him go to Orando for the day (40 miles above us).
...for those with chronic pain, there's a relatively new device that may help. My husband suffered a back injury, had surgery, but unfortunately the damage was done. He suffers with FBS (Failed Back Syndrome) and the drugs just don't cut it. So he got what's called a SCS - Spinal Cord Stimulator. This website is the Doctor's information page. It has links for the SCS as well as the Itrathecal drug Delivery Pump (also for chronic pain relief). You can browse by device or condition to see what's available.
Husband had his SCS implanted in Nov. '08. First you have aPsych evaluation to make sure you don't expect this thing will 'fix' what's wrong, 'cause it won't and some people can't wrap their head round the idea of having something permanently implanted, then do a 3 day trail to see if it's effective for you. He had relief while still on the operating table! Said it was like night/day when they turned it on. Since then, he went from 40mgs of Methadone/Day down to 5-10mgs, and then only on REALLY bad days. My husband's was implanted by an Anesthesiologist who specialized in Px management. The leads run up next to the spinal chord and are connected to a battery that's implanted under the skin. The battery re-charges through his skin by placing the re-charger on the skin over the battery. Life expectancy on the battery is about 10 years. You control it with a remote (I know, I hear you, 'Oh great, another remote control!' but this only works on the SCS, you can't change TV channels with it!)
The remote can be programmed with multiple programs to control the pain in multiple areas and intensities. It works because the small electrical stimulation interrupts the pain signals being sent to the brain. What you feel instead is a tingling in those areas affected. If you've ever used a TENS unit (Transdermal Electronic Nerve Stimulator) it's a similar sensation.
The Intrathecal Drug pump works in a similar manner, but it pumps drugs directly into the area, so you can use as little as 1/300th the amount of the usual oral dose and still achieve the same amount of pain reduction.
So here's the website for your investigation, and Medtronic isn't the only Co. making these, but they all work on very similar principles:
Medtronic Healthcare Professional Website