"21 years ago I had a spleenectomy due to a severe car accident. 3 days ago I spent the night in the hospital because of adhesions that were caused by this surgery, or so the doctors tell me. And I must say, ALL of the symptoms I saw on one of these adhesion links fit me exactly! I am still recovering, am on the "B.R.A.T." diet and am kind of fearful of the future.

I am not familiar with the B.R.A.T. diet, but would love to hear a little more about it.  Is this diet related to the fact that you no longer have a spleen?  While my personal experience with adhesions are not in the same area as yours, I do understand your shock and fear for the future.

I would like to know if anyone has had this experience before where such a long period of time passes after the surgery before they experience symptoms.

I believe that there are quite a few of us here that have experienced quite a time lapse between the surgery and an actual "flair up" caused by the adhesions after that surgery.  Many of us though, experience pain and complain for sometimes years before we are finally given some sort of diagnosis.  In my own experience I state on my quilt story that I had adhesions for 14 years before detection, strictly speaking I believe I was experiencing some problems at an earlier time than that.  My adhesions formed after having 4 c-sections to deliver my four children.  I had a hystorectomy in February, 2000 and that is where my problems caused by adhesions began to take over my life.  My story can be found on the adhesions quilt.

 And I would also like to know if anyone knows of ways to treat this in order to prevent another episode.

I am not sure what you mean by preventing another episode, because most of us here live with severe pain on a daily basis caused by adhesions.  There are some who do only experience mild irritation on an infrequent basis, and if you fall into that category then you should consider yourself very fortunate indeed.

I have a follow up with my doctor this Wednesday, but I have learned over time that I must research on my own as well and I value the experiences of others.

Yes, I agree researching new problems and health concerns is a very practical and crucial activity to allow you to make well informed decisions about future treatments.  My one piece of advice to you is to put off any suggestions by your doctor to have surgery, as at this time surgery isn't always the answer to pain caused by adhesions.  At this time there are a few alternatives that can be used at the time of surgery, these are called adhesion barriers and from those who visit the board, the results are mixed at this time.  Many are looking with interest at a new one called spray gel, and one of our main board members has recently had surgery in Germany to use this gel (It's not available in USA at this time).  What you must keep in mind Gina, when you are talking to the doctor is that surgery causes adhesions, so surgery to remove adhesions will sometimes give you relief, while mostly it won't it will just make things worse.  I think the best way for you to understand all of this is to read the stories on the quilt.  Karla Nygren is one I think you really need to read, as this woman has been through quite a bit and her story will show you the extreme end of what complications can occur because of adhesions, surgeries to remove them.

In addition, I would like to know if anyone has not been told by their doctors of this possibility after their surgery. I was NEVER told--at least that I can remember...and frankly I am a little dissapointed about that! I appreciate any and all feedback!

As for was I told about the risks of adhesions when I had my appendectomy or my c-sectins?  The answer is no, and when I asked my doctor after each birth how things looked and would it be safe for me to have another baby....his answer was always, your uterus is fine Jo!  nothing to worry about except a "little scar tissue"....talk about understatement!  In the next few days Gina, my website will be available too, it will tell my story, as well as Karla's and we will also have a chatroom, so that if you would like, we can set up a time and meet in there to chat about this further.  I would be happy to answer any further questions you might have.