I have pondered the same question as you, many, many times. I have had one adhesiolysis, do to a hysterectomy (if I would have known what I know now, I never would have had it) in Dec. '99. Unfortunately, I woke up with right sided rib pain. Although I felt that a lot of the adhesions were gone, as there was some relief in some areas, as the months went on I felt the return of many of them. Since the adhesiolysis in June of 2000 I made the decision to stay on pain management. This has not taken away all of the pain, but it does allow me to live a somewhat normal life. I did have to quit my job, as I was not able to work and then come home and take care of the kids, house and husband, so the decision was made that the children came first, and I should rest during the day and be here for them in the evening when they get home from school.
Everyone I know asks why don't you have another surgery? The answer is I am afraid of another surgery. What if I am worse off than I am now? I can go to the bathroom, I can eat, I can take care of the children, house, husband (sometimes), and I am just afraid that I could acquire more adhesions or just one large one that would make the pain worse and leave me bed-ridden or house-bound.
I suppose until I see a major breakthrough in the medical field where the percentages are higher for the ARD patient to come out of surgery 100% adhesion free, I will sit and wait and stay on pain management. Others disagree, and look at the surgery as having some time of being pain free, even if it is only for 2 months, 6 months, 1 year, etc.; they will go back for surgery after surgery hoping that this time will be it, and they will be adhesion free.
So, unfortunately, I am really of no help to you - this decision must be made by you to take the chance of possibly being adhesion free, being adhesion free for some period of time, or the adhesions returning immediately.
It does seem as though you are not on adequate pain medication and I would look into seeking additional medication to help you with the pain. If you need assistance looking for a pain specialist in your area, please let me know and I'll see if I can help.
Love and best wishes,
Helen Chalmers