Anisa's story
chronic pain
Anisa Longe still remembers the day her new spinal cord stimulator was turned on at Mayfield Brain & Spine. "I thought I was going to rimg-fluidt the door," Anisa says. "I felt ecstatic."
Anisa, who was injured in a serious car accident, had suffered debilitating pain for a generation: from the birth of her daughter until the birth of her granddaughter. Multiple surgeries, including a fusion, failed to help her through her "darkest days."
But today, thanks to medical technology and her Mayfield team, she's loving life again. "Even on my bad days, with the rain, I'm better than on my best days before the therapy," she says.
Anisa, holding her baby granddaughter.
Anisa is among the first patients in the region to receive the groundbreaking Senza® SCS system, the first spinal cord simulator system to provide pain relief via high-frequency therapy called HF10. The new therapy enables the delivery of stimulation without the tingling, burning, or prickling sensations known as paresthesia that are typically induced by other spinal cord stimulators. Marketed by Nevro Corp., it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of chronic pain, defined as pain that has persisted for three months or more.
Mayfield's Marc Orlando, MD, a physical medicine & rehabilitation specialist, has performed spinal cord stimulator trials of the system in dozens of patients. Mayfield neurosurgeons Steven Bailey, MD, and George Mandybur, MD, have followed up with permanent implantation of electrodes and battery packs.
Mayfield physicians implanted spinal cord stimulators to help patients with chronic pain for many years, and the devices have continuously evolved over time.
Spinal cord stimulation represents an important option in the treatment of chronic pain. It involves the delivery of electrical signals to the spinal cord in order to alter pain signals to the brain. The electrical pulses are delivered by small electrodes on leads that are placed near the spinal cord and are connected to a compact, battery-powered generator implanted under the skin. SCS is a reversible therapy that has helped hundreds of thousands of people experience relief from chronic pain.
Anisa told Channel 12 that her life completely changed after the spinal cord stimulator was implanted. "It's like waking up and instead of your world being black and white, all of a sudden it's color," she said. In celebration, she bought herself a new tennis racket. Even better, she was able to hold her baby granddaughter.
~ Cindy Starr
Hope Story Disclaimer -"Anisa's Story" is about one patient's health-care experience. Please bear in mind that because every patient is unique, individual patients may respond to treatment in different ways. Results are influenced by many factors and may vary from patient to patient.
"It's like waking up and instead of your world being black and white, all of a sudden it's color" – Anisa
Learn more about the anatomy of the spine.
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