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Thomas D. Sparrow exudes the quiet, easy, no-mountain-is-too-high confidence of a long-time farmer steeped in years of self-reliance.

Being sidelined by chronic pain has been difficult - frustrating, irritating, depressing - for the 61-year-old resident of Ridgway, Ill.

After trying pain injections and steroids, Sparrow was relying on four to five Lortabs - narcotic analgesic pills - each day to treat intractable pain that rendered him unable to participate in normal activities.

In 2004 Sparrow had a benign brain tumor surgically removed. He suffered a farm-related back injury and has had three discs extracted from his spine. Two more are ruptured. Sparrow also has undergone double knee replacement, has high blood pressure and is a Type 2 diabetic.

The pain in his back radiates down his right leg. Both of Sparrow's feet are afflicted with diabetic neuropathy, a painful combination of numbness and tingling. His relentless pain makes it difficult to sleep, stand or walk.

In December, he decided to give spinal cord stimulation a try at Deaconess Hospital's Pain Management Center. Spinal cord stimulation sends electrical impulses through the spine, masking pain signals traveling to the brain.

"It's like when you bang your hand. What do you do? You shake it," said Dr. Francis McDonnell, the pain center's director. "What you're doing is you're stimulating a whole lot of nerves to send a signal to the spinal cord to close the gate of pain that's going to your brain, so you overload the system."

On Dec. 5, McDonnell performed the outpatient procedure, equipping Sparrow with a trial spinal cord stimulator.

The trial device differs from a permanent one primarily in that it is external, carried in a pouch suspended from a belt. If the trial successfully reduces a patient's pain, a permanent stimulating device is surgically implanted under the skin.

For the trial spinal cord stimulation, McDonnell numbed Sparrow's back with injections of a local anesthetic before inserting a much larger needle. Using X-ray images as a placement guide, McDonnell then removed the top of the needle, leaving a tube, through which he maneuvered a wire under Sparrow's skin and into his epidural space.

He then inserted a second needle and wire into the space.

After McDonnell connected the wires to cables, the cables were plugged into a computer, operated by Nathan Schaffner, territory manager for Advanced Bionics, manufacturer of the Precision Plus spinal cord stimulation system.

Using a specialized program, Schaffner passed a mild electrical current through the cable, to the wire, to the epidural space, where it was picked up by nerves in the spinal cord, giving Sparrow sensations of vibration or tingling. McDonnell maneuvered the wires until the sensations were occurring in his back, legs and feet.

Bryan St. Pere, territory manager for Advanced Bionics, used a computer to make additional adjustments to the location and strength of the vibrations.

After programming three personalized settings into a remote control for Sparrow - one each for his feet, right leg and back - St. Pere connected the cables to a small external generator. With the remote, Sparrow could select which program to run as well as the strength and speed of the vibrations.

After the first week of a two-week trial period, McDonnell noted improvement in Sparrow's diabetic neuropathy. The sensation in and temperature of his feet had increased. In addition to inhibiting pain signals going to the brain, McDonnell said the stimulation increases blood supply, and increased blood supply can regenerate nerves.

"My philosophy of pain management is really it's wellness management, so if I can get patients moving, get them relatively pain-free, then they can start looking after other aspects of their lives that are going to prevent them from being unhealthy. ..." he said.

"I'm into people taking responsibility for their own health, which generally includes exercise, physical therapy and weight loss."

When the two-week trial period concluded, Sparrow reported 80 percent pain relief in his back and 90 percent to 100 percent in his leg. His left foot was doing well, but some numbness and tingling remained in his right foot, although it had improved.

McDonnell removed the wires from Sparrow's back Dec. 19. On Jan. 17, he and Dr. Doron Finn, a surgeon with Welborn Clinic, implanted the permanent stimulating device.

Occasionally, the wires in a patient's epidural space shift before they are secured in place by scar tissue. On Feb. 27, the wires in Sparrow's back had to be repositioned. He also had the implant moved from his lower back to above his waistline.

Before the surgical revision, Sparrow's wife, Darlene, said he had been organizing his tools, cutting wood, standing in church and resuming other activities he hadn't been able to do. His mood had improved and he was not as irritable. Now, they both are anticipating the time when his post-surgical activity restrictions are lifted.

"It's something you can live with," he said. "It's something you can tolerate, and you can go ahead and live your life better, without hurting all the time."