About a year after my spinal cord injury, my legs started to become very jumpy and spastic. It got to the point where I couldn’t pull my knees apart because the muscles were firing non-stop. I decided to get a pain pump, or an intrathecal pump made by Medtronic to help control spasticity and pain.

I was evaluated at the pain clinic in Seattle, and the test procedure worked. The rigid muscles in my legs relaxed. The pump was placed on my right side in the lower abdomen. I’m currently on my fourth medtronic pump. The battery in it eventually wears out and needs to be replaced. The pump is the size of a hockey puck, and can be used to control both pain and spasticity.

I have baclofen (Lioresal) in my spasticity pump for the muscles, and in the past year mixed Dilaudid with the baclofen to control neurogenic pain I was having. It did the trick, and helped relieve some of the pain. I know others will have morphine placed in the pump.

One thing that is alarming about the procedure of placing an intrathecal pump is the cost. About five years ago, I had one replaced by a neurosurgeon for around $15,000. I thought the hospital bill was wrong on my last bill when I saw it was over $30,000. A radiologist placed that medtronic pump. Medical costs are out of control.

If the quality of your life is being effected by pain or spasticity, look into the Medtronic intrathecal pump, and ITB therapy for relief.

The Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center and Arizona State University received two grants worth $450,000 by the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (ABRC), to research spinal cord injury and brain tumors.

‘Researchers at Barrow and ASU will use the grant to develop new hydrogels (liquids that gel) to stimulate the ends of damaged fiber on the spinal cord to grow and bypass the injured or scarred area of the spinal cord.’

The study uses the latest technology from the field of bioengineering. These grants should help researchers gain valuable insight on these research techniques, and bring the cure for spinal cord injury one step closer.