HOUSTON – “I love showing people my implant scars. Would you like to see it real quick?” asked Amiee Hart, before lifting the back of her shirt up to reveal two neat lines marking the incision points on her back. Amiee says she feels like a new woman. “I feel better than I did when I was ten years younger,” she told Houston Life.
Amiee had thought the chronic pain in her leg and back was something she would have to live with forever. “I was on a heating pad 24/7, even though it was 100 degrees outside. And, I was using a cane, a walking stick, handicap all the way. I couldn’t sit for longer than five minutes, couldn’t stand, could couldn’t do anything really, for about 28 years. It’s been on and off for 28 years,” she said.
That was until she walked in consultation with the team at AK Pain and Spine Center.
Relying on Opioids to get through her most painful days Amiee said, “it takes a toll on your body internally. Now, I haven’t taken an ibuprofen or a Tylenol since the procedure.
The procedure she is referring to is Spinal Cord Stimulation. It is an implant that sits low under the skin of the back and sends low levels of electricity to the spinal cord to help, in effect, turn off nerve pain.
“Amy came to us, maybe about a year ago. She had seen multiple specialists, but because they had failed to provide continuous pain relief, she came to our clinic. With further investigation, we found out that she had actually injured one of her nerves, and that nerve was inflamed, creating chronic pain down the leg. So as with most patients, if we can turn it off with just a small injection, well, that’s the way to go. Moving into the next part of the algorithm, knowing that it was a nerve pain pathway, we offered the therapy of spinal cord stimulation. The nice thing about that therapy is she could try it first, in which she got to experience what chronic nerve pain relief could be like for the first time in years,” Dr. Ankur Khosla told Houston Life.
Spinal Stenosis was causing most of Amiee’s pain, plus she had neuropathy in both of her feet. “With spinal cord stimulation, we can kind of kill two birds with one stone. We can take care of the stenosis symptoms and also help with the neuropathy in her feet,” explained Draehn.
“We treat all sorts of different pain from the spine, to joints, to headaches, to all sorts of different pain. Any type of pain that patients come in, we can we can help them with. We concentrate on just making the quality of people’s lives better, explained nurse practitioner Tara Draehn.
After 28 years of pain, Amiee’s quality of life is now better than ever.
“Life. Everything. Hiking. Dancing. I’m able to go dancing with my husband again. So, I just live life,” said Amiee, who is moved to tears thinking of they way things were. “I feel very blessed and humbled that I was chosen for this procedure and that I was able to walk through the doors.”
Houston Life’s Melanie Camp spoke with Amiee Hart about her journey to turn off pain. Watch more in the video above.
As a special for Houston Life viewers, AK Pain & Spine Center is offering free initial consultations for the first 25 callers. The number is 281.896.0013. You can also schedule online at akpainandspine.com CLICK HERE for that link.
AK pain & Spine Center have locations across Houston and because they believe no one in pain should wait, they offer same and next day appointments.