I participate in the ASMS newsgroup for folks with multiple sclerosis. They had many questions about what had happened and how I was doing, as have many of you. I'm known as Cowboy there, and here is what I posted to the newsgroup.

THE SAGA OF COWBOY & THE BACLOFEN PUMP

First, thanks to everyone for your kind comments, thoughts and prayers.

My spasticity and clonus had slowly worsened over the years. It had almost pulled me out of my wheelchair a coupla times, it had thrown me out of bed, and it had put me on the floor when transferring from the bed to the wheelchair.

So, I was given two choices. Either I got a baclofen pump or sweet Sharon was gonna put me out to pasture and put a new stud in the barn.

I had the test procedure done in August. They measure your spasticity, give you an epidural of baclofen, and then test your spasticity at 30 minutes, and at 1, 2 and four hours. It worked.

The epidural was no fun. First, they weren't set up for a handicapped person (and this was at a hospital in El Paso) so they had to get two guys from the ER to lift me from the wc to the gurney. The doc tried to do it with me sitting up and he couldn't do it, mumbling something about me having a "boney" back.

They then wheeled the gurney into another room, put me on another apparatus and flipped me on my stomach. The doc had some kind of x-ray device they put over my back and the doc finally got it in (sweet Sharon counted the holes, it took six tries). I guess the local anesthetic had started to wear off, because I felt a nice hot, searing pain shoot up my back and down my right leg. The doc is lucky I didn't take my "boney" right fist and apply it six times to some appropriate places.

Went back to El Paso on Sept. 18th to have the baclofen pump surgery. For those of you who don't know, they cut you open, make a pouch on the inside of your stomach skin where they place the pump, then run a catheter to the spinal cord. I really didn't like the place in El Paso, so arranged to have it done outpatient, and was then transported by ambulance to the Rehab Hospital of Southern NM in Las Cruces. It's a classy place, was released on Saturday.

On Monday I started getting the neurological headache. Then laid flat for 80 hours and with the doctor's permission got up. Three days later here came the headache again. So, this last Tuesday it was back to El Paso for a blood patch.

Now get this. The nurse who checked me in at pre-op said I should lay flat for 24 hours after the procedure. When I asked the doc, he said they would lay me flat for 30 minutes after the procedure, then I could go about my normal activites. He said there was something in the spinal fluid that caused the blood to clot very quickly, and 30 minutes flat was plenty. When the ambulance arrived to take me home, my discharge orders from that nurse was "take it easy for a couple of days." Perhaps that will give you an inkling why I don't care for El Paso. If that doesn't, the next will.

If you are wondering about the ambulance, my pickup is set up with a lift that gets me in on the driver's side. I can't get in on the passenger side. The doc's office said I would have an IV sedative so I couldn't drive home. I called BCBS, who is aware of my situation (my caseworkder used to raise and train quarter horses) and they said they would pay for the ambulance if the doc would sign the orders. I called the doc's office to tell them about the orders and they said this was strictly an outpatient facility and that facility refused to deal with the ambulance companies. I then inquired about how the hell did they think I was gonna get home. The doc's office then said if I would agree to a local anesthetic, I could drive home. I then called BCBS and told them I wouldn't need the ambulance. BCBS was adamant that I should not drive home the 50 plus miles after the procedure. So here I was, with a doc and a medical facility denying me a medical service an insurance company insisted on and was willing to pay for. Now what kind of switcheroo is that?

Well, about this time sweet Sharon entered the fray and for some unknown reason the doc's office had a change of attitude and I rode home in an ambulance. I had such an interesting conversation with one of the EMTs that I forgot something. It was my intention to ask them, when they turned off the highway and down the road to my place, to turn on the flashing lights and siren. Thought I would give the neighbors a little thrill.

Since it was a slow leak, I probably won't know till this weekend if the procedure worked.

End of saga....hopefully.

P.S. The baclofen pump is working beautifully. Hope I can keep it.