凯利·卡纳汉对医疗程序并不陌生.
在过去的三年里，52岁的凯利·卡纳汉（Kelly Carnahan）一直在与慢性心脏病作斗争 背部疼痛 为了减轻疼痛，她已经尝试了几乎所有的方法.
"I have a spreadsheet of all the things I've had done to try to get rid of my pain,卡纳汉说.
这个冗长的治疗列表包括多处颈椎融合, 可的松注射, 射频消融, 触发点注射, 空针, 物理治疗以及注射肉毒杆菌.
卡纳汉的脖子从C4到T1融合在一起. 她有多个层次 磁盘变性 她的胸椎以及严重的双侧关节突病变, neuroforaminal狭窄, 腰椎有多节段椎间盘退变. 在过去的三年里，卡纳汉接受了除五块椎骨外的所有治疗.
卡纳汉说：“在这个时候，我愿意做任何事情.
卡纳汉最成功的手术可能是她最近的一次：脊髓刺激.
尽管卡纳汉曾与犹他大学健康中心的各种医疗服务大发娱乐提供者合作， 扎卡里·L. 麦考密克博士她是一名经过委员会认证的疼痛医学专家 物理医学 & 康复(PM&R)照顾她的脊椎问题.
“我一直在和Dr. 麦考密克已经工作多年了。”卡纳汉说. “他是一个伟大的人. 而不是说“你有慢性疼痛, deal with it' he does everything he can to find answers and come up with ideas of how he can treat my spine issues."
当麦考密克五年前加入uu Health时，几乎没有PM&R教职员工只专注于 脊椎保健以及一名医师助理. 现在，有8个晚上&R位专注于脊柱护理的教员, 还有一群规模相当的医师助理和执业护士, working together as a very cohesive team both clinically and on research and educational efforts.
"We are able to take care of a lot more patients than we were just a few years ago,麦考密克说. "There's a lot more access and help for patients like Kelly and others who are struggling with their spine health."
Carnahan struggled with chronic pain for quite a long time before she started seeing McCormick.
麦考密克说：“脊椎很复杂，解剖结构也很复杂. "You're dealing with an intermingling of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system. 这并不罕见, 和凯利一样, that it can take some time to unpeel the layers of everything contributing to a given patients' symptoms."
Carnahan worked a lot with McCormick on diagnosing the underlying issues causing her so much pain, 以及如何最好地处理这些问题.
麦考密克说：“这在很大程度上要大发娱乐她找到合适的专家。. "There are highly skilled spine specialists across the U of U Health campus and having different points of view can help bring additional pearls of wisdom and insight to the table when we are formulating a care plan."
在脊髓刺激器放置之前, McCormick treated Carnahan with a variety of different minimally invasive techniques that do not require an incision.
"These types of minimally invasive procedures—radiofrequency ablation and fluoroscopically-guided injections—they can work quite well for some patients,麦考密克说. 凯利对其中一些回答相当不错, but we knew there was more we needed to do to improve her pain and function to an extent that it would truly change her life for the better."
It was at this stage of Carnahan's journey that McCormick suggested that Kelly consider enrolling in a study investigating the ability of spinal cord stimulation to address chronic, 耐火材料 腰痛 在腰椎没有手术的情况下.
"The other more conservative care was not helping Kelly's lumbar spine-related pain enough, 这影响了她的生活质量,麦考密克说. “对她来说，考虑脊髓刺激研究是有道理的."
脊髓刺激器是一种由两部分组成的植入脊柱的装置, consisting of electrodes that carry a small electrical current into different areas of the epidural space of the spine, 还有一个为电流供电的小电池.
The electrodes (small wires) are placed in specific areas of the spine based on each patient's specific pain profile, 电池通常放置在皮带线上方的皮肤下. 病人可以用一个小遥控器控制和调节电流. The electrical current reduces or extinguishes the ability of the brain to pick up those specific pain signals (pain signals travel along the spinal cord to the brain) and provides relief to the patient.
Once placed, the spinal cord stimulator can be programmed to fit the patient's specific needs.
Placement of a spinal cord stimulator isn't typically covered by insurance unless the patient has exhausted all other options, 通常包括腰椎融合手术在慢性腰痛的情况下. 然而, 因为这是一项专注于脊椎刺激效果的研究, Carnahan was able to enroll in the study and have the implant without having a lumbar fusion surgery.
卡纳汉手术后的头两周，用她自己的话说，是“可怕的”."
但随着她的康复，情况开始好转.
“大约在第18天，我就像‘哇...好吧，这还不算太糟’，”卡纳汉说. "It's definitely not a cake walk, but things started to heal, and I started feeling better."
自从植入了脊髓刺激器之后, 卡纳汉每天详细记录自己的疼痛程度. 植入后两个半月，她的疼痛程度减轻了70%. 现在，手术后三个多月，她的腰椎已经没有疼痛了. 她不再服用大量止痛药、肌肉松弛剂或焦虑药物.
“当我去看医生的时候. McCormick a few weeks ago the nurse at the office told me I looked like a different person,卡纳汉说. “在植入之前，我不能站直，走路就像90岁的老人一样."
而脊髓模拟器缓解了她腰椎的疼痛, 卡纳汉在脊椎的其他部位仍然患有慢性背痛.
卡纳汉每天只能工作两个小时. Her doctors are looking for solutions to help her thoracic spine pain, but it's not an easy fix.
“你的胸椎与肋骨相连, 所以试图解决这个问题是一件大事,卡纳汉说. "They are going to do anything and everything else before they consider doing a spinal fusion at thoracic spine, 因为它甚至可能没有大发娱乐. 但是我的腰椎不再疼了，这太棒了. 我很高兴，因为这是我再也没有的一层痛苦."
While it might not seem like much, the pain relief in her low back continues to be life changing.
The spinal cord stimulator can offer even more relief to Carnahan in the future should she need it.
"The battery in my spine has the capability to accept additional electrodes that can be placed in other parts of my spine,卡纳汉说. “我必须每隔几天给电池充电一次, 大约十年后，当这个电池用坏了，我就会换一块新的."
Carnahan isn't the only one who is happy about the outcome and the hope for even more relief in the future. 她的妈妈, 她的丈夫, and her three children are excited about the improvements she has made over the past several months.
"My family is the one thing that kept me going through all the hard times over the past five years,卡纳汉说. "My husband always had something wonderful and beautiful to say when I talked to him about feeling poorly. 因为他一直给我支持，我一直在振作起来."
Even with amazing support, Carnahan admits there have been some very dark, challenging times.
“我不会说这很容易. 这很艰难. 很长一段时间，我的生活非常艰难，因为我开始依靠药物生活。. “然后我会去修东西，发现别的地方出了问题. 有时甚至难以启齿."
幽默和“咸”的态度大发娱乐卡纳汉保持乐观.
"My husband is a fire fighter, and I worked as an emergency responder for years,卡纳汉说. "We are salty to begin with, and we deal with a lot of difficult situations on a regular basis. 大发娱乐往往发现幽默是唯一有助于减轻负担的东西. 在某些时候，你必须审视自己并意识到, 这太可悲了, 你还太年轻，不能就这么放弃...把你的头从屁股上挪开，做点什么."
然而, Carnahan has no regrets about where she is right now and says she would have the spinal cord stimulator implant again in a heartbeat.
“我可以再做一些事情，”她说. “在（植入手术）之前，吃饭是一件具有纪念意义的事情. 如果我去杂货店，那就是我一天所做的一切. 我的身体还有很多问题, 但多亏了（脊髓刺激器），我的腰椎得到了100%的改善."
She will forever be grateful for the care she received—and continues to receive—from her medical team.
"Dr. 麦考密克,博士. 马汉，我的团队...他们继续给我惊人的支持，”卡纳汉说道. “这些人真的很聪明, 我真的无法想象美国是如何组建这样一支伟大的球队的. 他们非常支持我，乐于助人，愿意做任何可以大发娱乐我的事情."
Carnahan—and other patients like her—keep McCormick motivated to find even more solutions for spine patients everywhere.
麦考密克说：“在脊柱护理中有很多具有挑战性的问题. “在科学和研究方面还有很多重要的工作要做, 临床护理也在不断发展. 我很高兴能成为其中的一员. 这不仅适用于凯利，也适用于任何面临慢性背痛的患者."
卡纳汉对未来及其带来的可能性感到兴奋.
“我的旅程还没有结束，我也不指望它会结束，”她说. “他们缓解了我的腰痛，我还在康复中. But this has given me some hope that I will be able to go out and do the things I used to do. 我不知道我还能不能回到以前的状态, 但能在更少痛苦的情况下更有功能是很神奇的."