At that point, my doctor arranged for me to meet a previous ONSTIM recipient as well as a representative from St. Jude Medical for education and Q&A time. Both of these encounters almost immediately cemented my choice to proceed.
The next step was to meet with the Pain Management specialist within the practice. I had an appointment with his colleague and after that appointment it was determined I would be a good candidate and we moved on to the next step...Psychiatric Evaluation.
Luckily, the Psychologist is also a member of the same Institution so scheduling wasn't difficult and he knew exactly what test to perform and why. That visit consisted of some one on one Q&A and an electronically administered test based on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory or MMPI. It had a little over 300 questions and was made up of short True or False statements (whether you agree with the statement or disagree). I took about 25 minutes to complete this (It can take up to three hours) I think a history of online quizzes helped me to finish a little quicker...
After the Pain Mgt. Doctor, Dr. P, received the results of the test, he and I had an appointment to discuss the trial. He informed me that I was psychologically cleared, (Apparently, I'm just crazy enough to have wires in my head), gave me pre-op instructions (Mostly what drugs I couldn't take prior and when I needed to stop food intake) He also gave me my pre-op blood work order which I will need to complete a couple of days prior to my appointment and we talked about my new haircut. He explained how they would need to shave a small section of my hair, and he let me know how a short haircut would be helpful (but not necessary). I let him know that it was my intention to make his job easier by preparing with a mohawk. I figured since I'll have sutures and wires and I won't be able to shower for a few days, that I might as well make it more convenient and have fun with it at the same time. I left my orders and his staff was going to make sure all of the insurance requirements were taken care of.
That night, Aaron helped me with my hair...
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| AFTER-Down |
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| AFTER-Up |
That day, I also spoke to my St. Jude rep and talked about where we were in the process.
Over the last few days, in addition to them being worse than usual headache days, they were full of anxiousness knowing I'd soon have a date scheduled. I've spent this time reading blogs from other people who have had a simulator and learning from their experiences. I am so grateful to them, as this isn't commonplace yet, there aren't official resources for patients outside of reading studies and marketing materials. I hope that my experience can help others as much as others have helped me thus far.
So today, I was scheduled. February 10th is when I will have my trial performed. I called and had a short conversation with my St. Jude Rep Jill and she answered questions I had compiled from reading blogs and jotting them down. I still have a few questions left for the doctor(s) but she helped out quite a bit. Now I'm just impatient (Trying to keep my hopes of success at bay) which is easier said than done. I have to have enough faith in this to continue but not so much that I inadvertently convince myself that the trial does something it doesn't (I've seen where that ends, and it isn't good)
I'm excited, a bit nervous (more of the outcome of the trial than the procedure), anxious, impatient, and hopeful, which is really the most important part...because it is nice to have something to be hopeful about.
So, I'll update as often as ONSTIM related events occur, or when I think of pertinent info to share.
All caught up
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