After experiencing problems with the original charger, a replacement arrived on Friday 28th June, and after some initial problems getting it to connect, I was able to get the implantable generator (IPG) charged up and have the therapy running properly. As before, the general running of it is absolutely fine, and the pain relief really good, but movement of my neck, particularly looking down, really brings the tingling sensation to a fairly uncomfortable level, and it has caused me to have spasms in my right arm on a few occasions. I find this particularly odd, because the tingling always starts in my left shoulder, and then as it increases it spreads to my right shoulder and then arm, rather than continuing down the left. I suppose that correlates with what I was experiencing when they tried to reprogram the previous device though (see Upgrading to Ian v2.01). At night there is a very specific position I can lie in on my left side where my body, head and neck seem to be in a good line so that the tingling doesn’t become intrusive. It only takes the slightest of movement away from that position though for me to get a bit of a shock (not as in electric! well I suppose it is in a way. 😏).
Testing mobility scooters
I received a link about a new mobility scooter from Quingo, and decided to follow it up. To my surprise they had someone in the area the next day, so I took the opportunity to have a home trial of 3 or 4 of their somewhat unusual scooters. They are 5 wheelers (hence the name) in that they are essentially a 3 wheeler in general use – and therefore have really tight turning circles – but also have a pair of out-rider front wheels that come into play as soon as the scooter starts to tilt, thus providing the stability of a 4 wheeler. I really liked the idea of their small model, and in particular the docking device for putting it into the car. Unfortunately the scooter was not suitable, and the dock is bespoke to that scooter. A couple of the bigger ones were good, but not outstanding. Thus my quest for the right scooter/car combination continues.
Accessibility problems at the hotel
Ruth was attending an event in Portsmouth at the weekend, so we decided to turn it into a bit of a weekend away. I booked a deluxe room at the Marriott through Booking.com, and put on the booking form that I needed an accessible room, and asked them to confirm about disabled parking. Given that the hotel confirmed they have disabled bays outside the door, and never queried the need for an accessible room, I presumed it was all ok. However, when we got there I was told that all the deluxe rooms are on the 6th and 7th floor, and was asked if I would be able to evacuate myself down the stairs in an emergency! 😱 The poor receptionist clearly knew the answer but was obliged to asked – however dumb it might seem. They eventually found us a room on the 1st floor (my comment was along the lines of throwing myself out the window or down the stairs from the 1st floor in an emergency, but I didn’t think that would work from the 6th! 😉). She was most apologetic, and assured me they would sort out a refund for the difference, but would have to do it through Booking.com. Once we got passed that, the weekend was nice, but it puts another marker in the memory bank of things to make certain of when making bookings, and not just presume that because a request hasn’t been challenged, that it is accepted.
I just need to sleep 🥱
The problem with finding a comfortable position for sleeping continued, and after 10 days or so I contacted the GP to see if they could suggest anything until I attend the reprogramming clinic on 18th July. After the usual conversation I have when I talk to a new GP, covering the “ooh, I’ve not heard of that before”, “wow, you’ve been through it a bit haven’t you!, “I don’t know anything about this, but I can imagine why you are struggling”, I was prescribed some sleeping pills for a week, and could then review if the reprogramming doesn’t change things. The tablets, coupled with me playing around with the amplitude of the therapy to reduce the strength (but also the pain relief) overnight, I was able to start sleeping ok.
It’s not all negative though
It’s very easy to focus on the problems I face, but the main reason I’ve gone through this second round of SCS surgery is to improve on the pain relief, and that is happening. It’s early days, and I still have a lot of post-surgical pain, particularly in my neck, but I think that is healing much better than last year, and I am definitely experiencing more pain relief from this device than the previous one. That is particularly satisfying given how busy I’ve been (I sometimes wonder if retirement was the right thing, as I don’t seem to have any more time!) with things ramping up – and sadly too frequently back down again – with Mum’s and my niece’s conveyancing processes.