Re: Adhesion Pain

From: alanbaleyko (alanjess@yourlink.net)
Mon Feb 28 17:39:17 2000


Hi Dana! I am so sorry you are having so much pain. I know how you feel, you're in pain and trying to take care of everyone else but feeling miserable the entire time. When I'm feeling a lot of pain, I just want to amputate my body from the waist down! I don't have a lot of solutions for you, but as time goes on you will find what works for you and learn to listen to your body. Maybe the pain you are having now will lessen a little after you have healed. Maybe not, but you must stay hopeful and positive! I know this is extremely difficult when you are in so much pain. I finally found some relieve through Paxil and I found an exercise program I can maintain. I have a card glider that I can use even when I have a little pain. That has helped alot!!!! I know it's frustrating especially when you are trying to take care of the children. I want to take my daughter for walks and play ball with her but I just can't. I finally got sick of worrying about what I couldn't do and started doing more of what I can do with her. I read her stories, I paint with her and do little science projects (she's 4 years old). I don't even worry about what I can't do because at least I am alive and here for her in some ways. I have a lot to offer her and I am not going to waste 1 more minute of my life worrying about what I can no longer do. I also learned that doing the grocery shopping made my pain worse. I let my husband do it now (bless his soul for being so cooperative) and he is actually enjoying it. I also get him to carry the laundry upstairs and sometimes he actually helps me fold it. Lifting, carrying, and twisting my torso makes me have to go lay down for awhile and take pain pills! This is what I mean about learning to listen to your body. It took me awhile to learn what makes me worse. Remember that you are a worthwhile wife! There is nothing wrong with asking for help on your bad days and doing a little extra on your good days (or not!). Again, you are not your body or the amount of work you are able to produce, you are wonderful because of your personality and your soul! You are ALIVE. You are company for your husband. And think about what you would do if the roles were reversed. Would you help your husband in any way possible? I think in some ways my husband enjoys that I need him so much. It makes him feel good about himself and maybe just a little more secure in our marriage. That is some of the good that has come out of all this. We both now know the meaning of "in sickness and in health" and know we are up to the task. I know how very hard it is to remain hopeful when your days are full of pain, but please try! It makes the pain better, and they are working on new treatments, therapies, drugs and theories constantly. I firmly believe that we will all be pain free one day! Go to your doctor and tell him how you are feeling. See if you can find a medication that helps with the pain. I had to cry in the doctors office before they finally decided that I was hurting! Sometimes I think we all try to cover the pain and get so good at it it's hard for the doctors to realize how bad we feel. Find a doctor that believes in adhesion pain. They are out there. Please hang in there, you are not alone. If you ever need to talk feel free to write to me or just post on the forum. The people here are so kind and thoughtful! They reach out to others even when they are in unbearable pain! I am truly amazed at the caring here! Take care of yourself and I will say a prayer for you tonight. Jessica

Dana wrote:

> Hello everyone.
>
> I've been reading a lot of the messages posted
> for quite some time and they have been a lot of
> help to me. I have had five abdominal surgeries,
> with four of the surgeries occurring within the
> last five months. Let me briefly explain.... On
> 9/30/99 I had a beautiful baby girl by c-section.
> Two days later, I had to have an emergency lapa-
> rotomy due to the fact that my abdomen was severely
> distended (I looked like I was pregnant with quadruplets).
> They found my colon was obstructed and had to repair it.
> I slowly recovered and found myself in severe pain
> about 9 weeks later. At that time, they drained
> a pelvic hematoma and that brought relief for about
> 7 more weeks. The pain then returned and they did
> another laporotomy and found adhesions and an ovarian
> cyst. They had tried doing a laparoscopy, but couldn't
> get the scope in due to the adhesions. About 3 weeks
> after this surgery, I was back in the hospital, in pain, with another
> laparotomy looming. We decided that the
> best course of action would be to do a total hysterectomy and
> appendectomy while they were in there. They did those procedures, plus
> lysed adhesions and used Interceed. After the surgery, my surgeon told
> me that the adhesions weren't as severe as initially thought, but that I
> did have many.
>
> I am now 3 weeks post-surgery and starting to have more pain - I'm not
> sure if it's related to adhesions or not. My surgeon is one of the many
> that doesn't put a lot of credence into "adhesion pain." I doubt if
> he'll want to do anything further surgically with me, and I don't want
> that either.
>
> I guess my question for anyone is how do you deal with the emotional
> consequences of such a debilitating problem? I am currently on an
> anti-depressant and it is helping, but I still have thoughts of
> hopelessness and sometimes suicide. I want to be a worthwhile mother
> and wife and it is so hard when in constant pain. If anyone has any
> advice for me, I would greatly appreciate it.
>
> Thank you and take care all.
>


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