Interstitial Cystitis

[rrguide]

My 75 year old mom has IC and wears Depends round the clock. This is not exceptable to her and has brought up the Interstim to me. We visited a Doctor in Tampa, Fl. He can do the operation but wants to do a trial run first. Can anyone give me encouragement or warnings on the machine. She's
bound and determined to go for anything that she can to get some relief.........HELP!
Also we live near Gainsville and Ocala, any suggestions on other doctors?

[stulchinsky]

Hello, this is a forum moderator responding. Although I don't have a direct answer to your question, HC's MDLocator may be used to help you find a qualified urologist in a community near you:
http://www.urologychannel.com/mdlocator/index.shtml

Although MDLocator lists many urologists, it does not include all. Thank you for participating in the forum, and I wish you the best in finding answers to your medical questions.

[BrendadD]

There is a lady named Jill O. who runs the ICNetwork on line and she has one and said it made all the difference. She talks about the person who put it in and that seemed very important. You might brouse the sight or give her a call, shes on the contact me part to get more infor. Have you heard good success with this? I would do one if I knew it would take away the inflammation and pain in my bladder, is that what its suppose to do?
Good Luck,
Brenda

[tepster]

I was diagnosed with IC 8 years ago and had my Interstim implanted in 2003...it saved my life. Though I still have severe flare ups due to stress, diet, etc., I live a whole new life with the machine. I still have pain but the urgency and frequency are not as bad. I am used to the pain and have accepted that I will live with that. In choosing which is worse, frequency/urgency or dealing with pain, I would take the pain in a minute. I recommend it to anyone in this situation. The trial is what is performed first before full implantation. They connect to the nerve with a lead but it is removable. You wear a pack for about a week to see if there are any results. My life changed that day. Since it was immediately successful, I had the temp put in on a Monday and they implanted the permanent one on Friday. I am in Maryland so can't help with drs but the Medtronic site may help you since they make the machine.