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Hi there,

Glad you got on well at the hospital and are now awaiting your trial.  I had my op at Derriford Hospital which is in Plymouth so nowhere yours I think !!!

For me, because of other problems like epilepsy and brittle asthma, I am always kept in for at least a night following any surgery, however I understand that the initial trial implantation is often done as a day case.

Under a general anaesthetic, a wire is threaded through one of the holes in the sacrum so that it is in the correct position to stimulate the sacral nerve.  Where this wire exits the body is it stuck down and held in place under a very large dressing and is then looped out so that it can be attached to an external version of the stimulator.  In my case the stimulator could be attached to clothing or a belt with a clip - which was fun when going to the loo as you can imagine.

After I had recovered from the anaesthetic the surgeon came to wire me up to the trial stimulator and show me how to adjust the settings.  Hopefully your surgeon will have less of a sense of humour than mine who wrapped me up like a mummy in a dressing that stretched across my bum from one side to the other which featured warnings about removal of the dressing written in capital letters in a permanent marker and a drawing of a smiley face!

The trial version of the stimulator could be turned up or down a few notches and I was expected to fill out a pain chart during the period of the trial.  For me, I think it was about ten days but I might be wrong.  At the end of this period I had an out patient appointment to see my surgeon again, discuss how the trial had gone and to have the wire removed - which didn't hurt at all.  The stimulator records data during the trial and this can be downloaded by the surgeon to see the levels you have had the machine set at.

DO BE CAREFUL not to make any sudden twisting or bending movements during the trial as it is possible to pull the wire out or move it into an uncomfortable position.

Hope this is of use with regards to the first stage of the procedure.  Did they give you any idea of the wait between a successful trial and permanent implantation?  I had to wait quite a while as I went into a new year's funding allocation for the permanent surgery.

All the best,

Loopy