I've mentioned before, my wife has suffered from steadily decreasing mobility the past 3 years due to lower back and sciatica pain. We have tried chiropractors, physical therapy,
then medication, epidural steroid shots, and rf ablation, all through a spine and pain clinic, with very temporary or no results. They finally recommended we see a neurosurgeon/neurologist.

They found there were multiple possible sites along my wife's spine that could be causing the pain, and were reluctant to move to surgical remedies (like fusing or discectomy), since they might not address all the pain sources. Instead they recommended we return to the spine and pain center and have them go through the process to implant a spinal cord stimulator, which emits signals that interfere with pain signals, preventing them from being recognized by the brain.

In February she had a temporary (5 days) SCS implanted, which they do to assess whether it is of benefit, before doing a more intrusive permanent. It provided immediate relief. The SCS provider says they feel it is success when the pain is reduced at least 50%, but in her case it was more like 90%.

About ten days ago she had the permanent SCS installed, which includes the electronic leads up her epidural space from lower through mid spine, and a small controller device implanted off to the side of her lower back. Two 4" incisions, sort of like this:

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The 90% relief came immediately back and has remained, just using an intangible pulse that occurs once every two minutes. The internal device has to be recharged, using a wireless charger, but with the pulse setting we'll probably only need to recharge once a week or so.

Early days still, but it has restored her to her old life, and we are very hopeful. We assume her previous energy levels will come back, but slowly--maybe months. Today she is planning on going to two hours of church for the first time in a couple of years.