Posted 4/25/2017 8:28 PM (GMT -5)
Hi i have had a Medtronic nero stim implant for well over 7 years. Up till 07/2016 when it had to have a battery replacement I loved it. Now 9 months later I am feeling a little "Jolt" every now and then and the skin over the stim unit is getting red and at the end of the incision there is a tender spot where the skin appears to be flaking or anyway it's very tender. I went to my spine surgeon today and he put me on anti-biotics and had me get a blood test because there was a 50/50 chance it was infected. I asked but did not get a clear answer as to whether if it had to be removed did the whole unit, leads and battery pack have to come out or did they cut the wire leads and take the battery pack and determine at some time down the road if I could get a new battery pack put in. He said if the infection has not spread up the wires that tey just pull down on the wires and cut them and leave the wires and where they attach in the spine alone. Two questions, can I have an MRI if the leads are still in place and if the leads come out doesn't the scar tissue build up around the leads in the spinal canal and this than becomes very dangerous to remove?
The other part of this mess is my spine MD who I have known 15 years and has done all my spine and neck surgeries somehow did not get re-set at the start of the new year with my insurance company so he has to refer me out to someone else. I am not afraid of surgery but I have had about enough of them to fill a lifetime and after just having my ankle in a cast for 8 weeks want no more operating rooms, ami being to worried about all this or do I have legitimate concerns?