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At Tue, 2 Oct 2001, Bob wrote:
>
>Hello All,
>Pam and I returned home on Sept. 20th. The flight home will kick you
>hard, even healthy folks. After three weeks over there your body just
>has enough time to adjust and whammo, back to home time.
>We spent the first 4 days getting our sleep habits in synch with US
>time. Seven days after returning home Pam went back to work at the
>doctor's office giving Chemo and caring for cancer patients. Yes, she
>was tired after the days work, but no pain was present. To those going
>to Germany and having Dr. Korell perform the first properly done
>procedure, you must know it is tough to have success 100% of the time.
>He was very excited after Pam's first procedure to see the excellent
>work that Dr. Reich and Redan had performed. It made his work easier
>allowing him to focus on the chronic thre spots Pam had reocurring.
>After the thorough second look he could find NO adhesions reforming in
>these areas. Adhesions start the reformation process within 3-4 days.
>Pam's first surgery with Dr. Reich was EIGHT hours long. Dr. Korell
>only needed just under 2 hours due to the meticulous previous work
>performed. He even noted it in the operative report.
>The Intergel did the trick and worked as it is supposed to. She did
>have some nausea and vomited once, but not from the Intergel. Anytime
>you manipulate all of the intestines you can develop an "Illeus" or
>basicly a muscle that has been pulled and not wanting to move right
>away. This is not because of the Intergel. This can happen anytime the
>bowel is completely manipulated looking for adhesions and Pam had it
>before. So do not label nausea and vomiting as an adverse reaction to
>the Intergel. Adverse reactions are anaphylatic type (hives, itching,
>shortness of breath.)
>For those wishing more information please feel free to e-mail me
>personally. I kept a detailed journal of the trip over there for anyone
>wishing to read it. It is rather long though. The language barrier is
>not a problem as the people there were all great!
>Bottom line is Pam is feeling great. Her bowels are still sluggish, but
>moving. What do you expect after years of dealing with kinks and
>blockages from adhesions. This takes times as would any muscle (which
>the intestines are) to return to normal. We still are holding our
>breath until she is 6 months pain free. Remember, medicine is not
>warrantied like an appliance.
>One final thought, if you are on Oxycontin and have adhesion surgery,
>please meet with your pain doctor and have that doctor set up a plan for
>you to come off this pill. It works great but you cannot just toss them
>aside after surgery. Your body has built both a tolerance and a
>dependence on it. Just stopping without a slow, methodical step down
>will be very tough on you. Pam was slowly weaned off this over two
>weeks with the help of her pain doctor by setting up a dosage schedule
>which Dr. Korell helped Pam follow. Today after a 2 mile walk in the
>evening she only needed a davorcet for the overall muscular pain, which
>is great.
>Please take care and consider this alternative, even if Intergel is
>released soon here in the USA, Germany is an excellent, cheap
>alternative. Our total cost for surgeon, hospital, (everthing included
>in one daily charge per day) and a three week stay in the apartment
>building vest door came to $4,565.00 in US money. This is unreal and if
>presented to your insurance carrier with complete documentation, they
>may actually cover, since it is so much cheaper. I can help with this.
>Please do not give up hope. There will be a pain free day soon for all
>adhesion suffers.
>
>--
>In Loving Friendship,
> Bob Markford
>