>----- Original Message -----
From: "winged phantom" <winged_phantom8@hotmail.com>
To: "Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS"
<adhesions@mail.medispecialty.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 5:21 PM
Subject: You asked about having (more) surgery?
> 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
>