Re: You asked about having (more) surgery?

From: winged phantom (winged_phantom8@hotmail.com)
Tue Mar 25 16:35:23 2003


Oh, actually, I do have some new symptoms: I hurt a bit when I urinate, and I cannot "bear down" when I have a bowel movement. It just feels different. It's not yet my body.

And I guess my unprofessional opinion is that even if you never knew before that you had adhesions, if they are hurting you now, you probably have ARD and will continue to have it.

(Please do not take any of this as medical information; please see your own doctor for his/her advice if you are in need of it.) Thanks for listening, wr

At Tue, 25 Mar 2003, winged phantom wrote: >
>Hi Everybody,
>Many of you don't know me, but I do lurk around here a bit. ;) I
>discovered the board a few months ago, a few weeks before I had a total
>abdominal hysterectomy. I was like some of you, in that I had never had
>previous abdominal surgery. I had never been diagnosed with
>endometriosis, had never had PID or diverticulitis or any of that stuff.
>I had one or two small ovarian cysts over the years. But when I had a
>laparoscopy in early January, the finding was "extensive abdominal and
>pelvic adhesions", and I have pictures to prove it. In the months
>leading up to this, I had gained 12 inches around my "waist", with no
>corresponding weight gain. I grew out of my clothes, and I was very
>uncomfortable. I never felt "empty", although I could feel hungry. It
>hurts to eat much (too bad I still do!), and I have been diagnosed as
>having IBS. I think now that although I have the criteria for it
>(mostly constipation with some diarrhea), it's probably due to the
>adhesions.
>
>Let me insert here that at 8 days post-op I developed ileus, something I
>don't think I would have had if my gut was not so sluggish anyway. And
>the surgery and the pain meds all tend to slow it down even more. Let
>me tell you, that NG tube that I had for 3 days was no fun!
>
>Now, at 6 weeks post-op, I still feel the same as before! My pathology
>reports came back pretty good, but my doctor found old, scarred-in endo
>and adenomyosis. I guess I was extremely lucky in that I was
>asymptomatic until after menopause! I'm not sure if it's too early to
>suspect adhesions again; my doctor told my husband that he used
>Seprafilm, but the surgery report does not report that anything was used
>(One of these days, when I'm not busy, I will have to call his office
>and ask for clarification). At any rate, I have lost only about 2
>inches in my girth, and I'm still very uncomfortable most of the time. I
>had my reasons for going through with the surgery when I did, and I
>don't really regret it, but I'm disappointed I don't feel better than I
>do.
>
>First things first, though. In two weeks I will have a three level
>anterior cervical disc fusion (ACDF), and then I will be in a hard
>collar for 6 weeks. Hopefully by the end of summer, I will be feeling
>better.
>
>My plan has been that, if I have to, I will go to Germany to have Dr.
>Kruschinski do surgery with the SprayGel. I am unwilling to give up
>more of my life to pain than I already have. And if the surgery is
>covered by my insurance, then it will not be that bad. If it is not
>covered, then I will have made a good investment in my, and my family's,
>lives. Although I have not had adhesion pain that long, I have been in
>pain from DDD in my neck since mid-1989. But I did not really know that
>until I did another MRI last Fall; I thought all this time it was
>probably fibromyalgia. Now I know more. Live and learn, eh?
>
>So those that ask if you should have (more) surgery? MY OPINION is that
>you should NOT have any more surgery if you have had it in the past,
>unless you can be seen by an ARD specialist. Too bad there seem to be
>so precious few of those around. If you already know you have
>adhesions, then more surgery will in all likelihood make the problem
>worse, and you may only feel "good" for a brief time. For those of you
>who are not sure if you have ARD (like me), be sure you think it through
>very carefully and have plans for the future. It's best if you, too,
>could be seen only by an ARD specialist, but sometimes that is hard.
>
>QUESTIONS! Do I need to be re-diagnosed with adhesions before I plan a
>trip to Germany? Will I need another laparoscopy? Another round of
>ultrasounds or X-rays or what-not? Or should I just assume I have more
>adhesions and plan the trip if I continue to feel the same?
>
>Sorry this is so long, but that's the way it goes. I know so many of
>you are suffering terribly, and my heart goes out to all of you. I
>think of you all every day. And I thank all of you who were willing to
>go to Germany and blaze the trail for those who will follow! More power
>to all of you who have slain the adhesion monster! Tawonda! :)
>wr


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