“The pain pump has changed my life.”
REAL PEOPLE, REAL STORIES
Meet Tracy
On February 18, 1993, Tracy’s life was forever changed. At 16 years old, she was a passenger in a terrible car accident. The car hit a steel mailbox post that went through the windshield and struck Tracy in the face.
“It was basically a domino effect. It just crushed all my bones.”
Tracy was life-linked by helicopter from a hospital in Forest Lake to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. She spent two months in the ICU and was put in a medically induced coma for two weeks.
“The first major surgery was 14 hours,” said Tracy, “they basically tried to put the puzzle pieces together as best they could.”
Nura Understands Your Pain
Tracy would undergo 56 reconstruction surgeries to try and rebuild her face, including the orbit of her right eye. However, she continued to have sharp, shooting pain in her head – it was constant. Tracy had 12 exploratory surgery to try and find the source of pain, but that was unsuccessful. Her pain was now chronic and disrupting her daily life.
Tracy spent years going from neurologist to neurologist and doctor to doctor. No one could locate the source of the pain, and each time, she was just sent home with another prescription for pain medication.
“It got to the point where my body was dependent on the medication. I was tired of it.”
She spent her days at home trying to deal with the pain on her own. The medication would make her feel numb. She began to doubt herself and withdrew from day-to-day activities.
“You name it. I missed it – Christmas, Thanksgiving, funerals, birthdays, everything. I missed it all.”
Tracy needed something to change. She explored rehabilitation facilities to help with her dependency, but they recommended medication to manage pain. Seeing no other options, she took matters into her own hands and took herself off the medication, and went through abrupt withdrawal.
“It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make because I knew the repercussions. I was dealing with the side effects of going off the medicine on top of dealing with the pain.”
Looking for a new plan to manage her pain, Tracy began to research alternatives to medication online when she came across Nura. She was drawn to Nura because of their different interventional options and expertise in complex cases. Tracy scheduled an appointment to meet with the team.
“My first appointment at Nura, I just had a feeling that this was it.”
Tracy’s medical history made her a good candidate for a spinal pain pump. The Nura team demonstrated how the pain pump delivers medication directly to the pain source, leaving the brain free of side effects. After the pump trial, she described her pain going from an 8 to 4 – the relief she felt left her speechless. In 2019, Tracy’s life was forever changed again – she received a pain pump implant, and she hasn’t looked back. She now feels pain relief without the side effects of opioids.
Although she can’t get back the time she missed, Tracy can now live for today. She attends events that she couldn’t before and can enjoy the simple things in life again.
“The pain pump has changed my life – night and day.”
Find Pain Relief
Schedule an appointment with one of our pain specialists by filling out our appointment request form or giving us a call at 763-537-6000.
