  A recently developed lattice field theory approach to the statistical
mechanics of charged polymers in electrolyte solutions [S. Tsonchev, R. D.
Coalson, and A. Duncan, Phys. Rev. E {\bf{60}}, 4257, (1999)] is generalized to
the case where ground-state dominance in the polymer's Green's function does
not apply. The full mean-field equations for the system are derived and are
shown to possess a unique solution. The approach is applied to the problem of a
charged Gaussian polymer chain confined to move within the region defined by
two fused spheres. The failure of the notion of ground-state dominance under
certain conditions even in the limit of large number of monomers is
demonstrated.
