| My husband Donald was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1993; he thought he had a pinched nerve in his neck. In 1995 he walked with a cane. In 1997 he started using a scooter he was still able to transfer but he could not walk. He took the Betaseron Shot for 5 years then had a real bad reaction and then went on Avonex and all the shots made him really sick so after 6 shots we quit. He had spasticity in his legs so bad for such a long time his legs would be straight as a board on both legs and at times we couldn’t get him in the front seat of the van because we couldn’t get his legs to bend. So we had to get a ramp van so he could just ride into the van. It would take me and our son a half hour to get him out of bed in the mornings because he was so stiff. He was told he had type 2 progressive MS and it was attacking his body 24 hours a day. His neurologist sent him to see another doctor about putting in a Baclofen Pump. He had this done on April 14, 2004 and now his legs bend real easily he has more stiffness on his top half now in his arms but its better than it being in his legs. His pump from Medtronic is the SynchroMed® 118637-40. We are glad we had this done. The main problem Donald had was severe headaches and the doctor told him to drink caffeine and take ibuprofen and use ice packs on his head. On June 19th 2004 Donald had to have emergency surgery because he started bleeding on both sides of his brain. We and three doctors have no idea what caused this we thought it had something at first to do with the pump but they (the doctors) didn’t think it did. Donald is fine now – we just do what we can day to day. I have quit my job to stay home with him plus I have COPD lung decease. But Donald always has such a good outlook on everything and is always in a good mood and we have learned to laugh a lot of this off, especially when we have problems lifting him and me feeding him. He is a great husband and father of 3 children and grandfather of 4 children and he worries more about everyone else instead of himself. |
For important safety information related to ITB Therapy please click here
 Important Safety Information Related to ITB Therapy and the SynchroMed II System
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
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