At Fri, 3 Nov 2000, Mary Wade wrote:
>
>Zoe--Sorry to hear you are having a rough time. I can't give you all
>the information that you need but I can tell you what I did to find
>answers for myself. Like most of us here, I had been to several
>different doctors and through many tests to figure out why I have so
>much pain. I was advised that more surgery would not help. I had
>nowhere to go except to the pain clinic for more meds.
>
>I decided that I would get in touch with Drs. Reich and Redan to find
>out if they viewed my case differently. I gathered all my medical
>records and sent the records to them. At the same time, I sent all the
>records to my internist. My internist was one who had advised me
>against having additional surgery. After Drs. R&R had reviewed my
>records, they said that they could help me. I told them that I had been
>advised differently and needed to know why they thought they could help
>when other doctors couldn't. They sent me copies of articles detailing
>the procedures. I gave these to my internist, he read them, and (bless
>him) he called Drs R&R to discuss my case. My internist changed his
>mind after talking to them. He is now very positive about me having
>surgery. I am scheduled for Dec 8.
>
>I have decided that it is a good thing that no other doctor rushed in to
>do more surgeries. Even though I was discouraged at the time, I glad
>now that I didn't have more surgeries by doctors who are less skilled.
>
>Hope this helps
>
>At Fri, 3 Nov 2000, Zoe wrote:
>>
>>Dear All,
>>I get lots of encouragement from reading about your positive treatment
>>from Dr Korell or Redan.
>>I had my follow up appointment at the hospital yesterday to decide what
>>to do next. They were almost insisting that laproscopic surgery was
>>impossible for my case and were rather defensive of my suggestion that I
>>may have found someone who could do it.
>>Please could you tell me why Dr Korell is willing to do this but not
>>them - is he just an optimist and them pessimist? Or is he really just
>>better than them at this sort of thing?
>>I am seriously concerned about my fertlity, it seems that I am unable to
>>ovualate and will soon have tests to see if my tubes are blocked. Dr
>>Korell suggests doing tubal reconstructive surgery. Has anyone ever had
>>this done or know of anyone who has?
>>I feel totally confused about the way ahead and don't know what to do
>>for the best.
>>I look forward to hearing from you soon.
>>Best wishes to you all
>>Zoe
>>
>>--
>>Zoe (UK)
>>
>--
>Mary Wade
>
Good luck with your surgery, and from all we have heard of these drs, they will probably help you, the GI drs I go to, they do not understand either.
How long did it take for the drs to get back to you? Where are you from?
Toni
I was surprised by how fast they got back to me. I had gathered all my op reports and other medical reports (I was very thorough) for them before I contacted them. I learned from hanging out here that I had to take the initiative to make the contacts and find out what could be. After I made the decision to inquire, it was just a matter of saying, "Here are my reports. Can you help me?" I tried to be very factual in my conversations with their office rather than focusing on how badly I feel. You don't have to convince these docs that you don't feel good.
Oh...you asked where I live. I live in Kansas.
When I talked to Dr. Reich's nurse, she advised me to use a low residue diet. I downloaded the Mayo Clinic Low Residue Diet and have been following that. Been drinking a lot of Ensure and calcium fortified juices instead of eating my usual high fiber fare. It has worked so much better. I take multivitamins, take two Pericolace tablets in the AM, and drink one half cup of that flax seed "juice" recipe (I mix it with V8 juice) that someone gave here a while back. This has worked so much better for me than loading my gut with solid food throughout the day. I have been drinking Ensure and juice for two of my three meals. When I do eat a meal, I don't eat a lot at once. Eating little bits throughout the day works better for me than big meals. If it was going to be a long time before surgery, I would ask to see a dietician to make sure that this plan was giving me all the nutrients that I need. GI docs always seem to say "high fiber high fiber" but that did not work well for me with adhesions.