At Thu, 21 Oct 1999, Christine M. Smith wrote:
> >At Thu, 21 Oct 1999, Gina wrote: >> >>I am new here, though by all rights I should have been here 18 years ago >>because that's when my adventure with adhesions began. Only I didn't >>know it (and docs didn't dx it) til I had surgery 8/12/99. Now I am >>known as "adhesion prone". Yippeeee! (BTW, I have a weird sense of >>humor, better to laugh than cry most days). >> >>Anyway, it wasn't til after my 2nd surgery (9/15/99) that I researched >>adhesions and found out it was possible to prevent them with exercise >>immediately after surgery, or with barriers, etc. No one told me--even >>though they knew I was adhesion prone. So I laid flat for 2 weeks solid >>"resting", hardly ever moving because I was told not to "over-do" it, >>etc. Now I find out it was the worst thing I could have done! It "set" >>my new adhesions permanently doing that, I think? >> >>Anyway I am getting tired of everyone (friends & family) telling me the >>best thing for adhesions is exercise. Sure in the beginning that might >>be true to keep them from attaching. But at 5 weeks post-op, when they >>have already started to harden and be permanently attached, most >>exercise hurts!!! ALOT! I can walk for a short time comfortably, but any >>bending, twisting, tummy and lower back area stuff is excruciating. >> >>Are they right? Should I be trying to exercise through the pain to >>detach them? Are my new adhesions permanent at 5 weeks, and hard? Is >>there anything I can do besides surgery and pills, to get rid of the >>pain and the adhesions at 5 weeks post-op? >> >>My doc who did the surgery told me that yes I do have new adhesions >>again in pelvic area, and I will just have to live with chronic pain. He >>told me that at 2 & 1/2 weeks post-op! He gave up. He said no one will >>operate to remove adhesions only, just because it hurts. He also said >>in my case any surgery to remove adhesions would make more (even >>laprascopy since that was how these last 2 surgeries were done, and both >>created new adhesions). I am not ready to accept "chronic pain" when it >>seems early enough to do SOME thing about them? >>Thanks, >>Gina > >Hi Gina: >If it makes you feel any better, and I hope it does, there are no >guarantees from any of the adhesion barriers. They work for some people >and not for others. Just the way some people get adhesions after >surgery and some don't. My surgeon told me that and people on this >forum have had barriers that didn't work. I am sure my surgeon got his >opinion from going in and seeing adhesions in people who had barriers >used previously on them. >Also, my surgeon operated on me just because it hurt. There was no >other reason, I had no sign of obstructions or complaints in the area of >bowel function. It had only been 6 months since the first lap and he >knew there were other adhesions. But he didn't brush me off and say >that surgery for adhesions doesn't work. (and as far as we knew at that >point, my first surgery didn't work because I was complaining about the >same exact pain.) What he did say was that there were no guarantees and >that I could even be worse after the surgery. When I asked him if this >was ever successful he said "sure, or else we wouldn't keep trying, or >at least I hope we wouldn't keep trying" Gyns who do infertility surgery >do repeat surgery all the time. But I think you are right there in that >the difference is the goal-it is not pain control, but pregnancy. And >most infertility patients would risk future pain to become pregnant. >I also worried about the post-op period, especially after the second >lap. Should I be active or restrict my activities? There is no >guarantee that exercise right after the surgery works, but I agree, its >something to try. Dr. Bradley wrote on the ob-gyn website that he has >his patients doing side roles etc. every 15 minutes as soon as they >return from the recovery room. I worried like you, when I restricted my >activities, would I just be letting the adhesions solidify. Well, what >about when you are asleep? Any good you did by exercising in the day >could easily be negated by 8 hours of relative inactivity during the >night. I think if adhesions are going to form, they are going to form >and there isn't a whole lot you can do on your part. There is also some >thought on presribing large doses of anti-inflammtories post op to cut >down on inflammation. >I think that at 5 weeks you are still in the recovery period, even >though it was a laparoscopy. You had major work done. I wonder if >those friends and family who tell you that exercise is the best thing >for adhesions have any experience themselves with adhesions? If my >problem is adhesions, then exercise made the pain much worse. If it >isn't adhesions it also made my problem much worse so I guess you can >tell what I think about exercise!!!:< P I'm talking about strenuous, >high impact stuff, not necessarily walking or most household activities. > >Chris S.