-----Original Message----- From: "Tracy [Administrator]" <tracy.joslin@adhesions.org> To: "Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS" <adhesions@dns.obgyn.net> Date: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 11:14 PM Subject: A little bit of better news to share
>I thought it might be helpful to some of our members/readers to hear
>some good news that I received after my own surgery this summer.
>
>In mid-June I had what is somewhere around my 20th surgical procedure
>(I've quit counting) over a 19 year time span. Being still very young,
>this is not exactly a great track record, but one that I hold due to
>severe endometriosis and adhesions. I've worked with the same doctors
>over these years in my current home town (Texas) and find I am very
>fortunate to have their knowledge, skill sets and patience.
>
>For the first time in 19 years I heard these statements from my doctors
>after the surgery: "the pelvic was clean of endo and adhesions" and "the
>abdominal/chest adhesions were not nearly as bad as we expected based on
>your prior surgeries". Never before have I heard these words.....ever.
>
>The endo has resided everywhere you can think of and in a lot of other
>places it should not - liver, diaphragm, etc. The adhesions have taken
>on a life of their own, partly from the endo, partly from multiple
>surgeries and my body's ability to just keep making the tissue or at
>least allowing it to grow.
>
>Over the years they tried most everything to help with my stubborn
>adhesions. Intergel was removed from the market in the months prior to
>my surgery, otherwise, it may have been used.
>
>It seems Sepra Film has become my body's most accepted adhesion barrier
>and after two applications ('97 & '99) there has been some success in
>reducing the quantity of the adhesions. To go a longer time period than
>ever before with a lesser amount of adhesions that before is a HUGE
>accomplishment for me. Many of my surgeries were laps. The last 2 ops
>were mini-laparotomies. The surgery this summer was a full laparotomy
>straight down the center -- they found a hernia to repair (ouch). Now
>my husband thinks that I will fall apart at the seams where my
>horizontal and vertical incisions all meet. [he is such the funny
>guy!]. Could the fact that CO2 was not used in the last couple of
>surgeries have some impact? How long will the Sepra Film help this time?
>
>I've been through a lot myself with all of this over the years and I
>know that one of these days we will find something that will work for
>me. I do not expect this to be the end of my dealings w/adhesions or
>endo - - my doctors and I know my body all too well. But we do feel it
>may be a little bit longer this time before I have to have another
>surgery. Its taken many years to get here - a lot of pain, a lot of
>crying, lack of money and a lot of everything else I never anticipated I
>would have to deal with -- but the fight is not over yet. I'm fortunate
>in that I am always pain free after surgery -- a lot of practice at
>getting myself prepared mentally for feeling better maybe, even though I
>know there will be a "next time"?? In these later years I am able to go
>a while longer before things get me down, but the diseases are always in
>the back of my mind.
>
>I'm not sure what else we have done differently to achieve this outcome
>besides create havoc with my hormone replacement regimens and I do take
>GLA supplements to help w/the inflammation (approved by my doctor).
>
>Not everyone gets the same results w/the variety of adhesion barriers
>out there, and if someone else went to my doctor - he may not be right
>for that person. We all go through this disease - uniquely. With my
>surgery in mid-June, I took time away from my IAS duties for a much
>needed recovery period. Getting out of the hospital after only 48hrs
>was a huge coup. I still do not know why they look at you funny when
>you walk the halls at 4am w/your IV pole tagging along behind you --
>could I really look that funny?
>
>My energy has been slow to come back, but I'm getting stronger each day
>and am now 10 weeks post-op. I don't know what the future holds and in
>time, the familiar pain will probably return, but I try not to dwell on
>that just yet.
>
>Until then, I'll just be sitting here putting extra virgin olive oil on
>my incision w/a cotton pad twice a day to minimize the appearance and
>hope that nobody mistakes me for a salad :)
>
>--
>Tracy Joslin
>IAS Administrator
>tracy.joslin@adhesions.org
>
>Neither the IAS, Synechion, Dr. Wiseman or any other representative offers
>medical advice. Always consult a qualified medical professional.
>
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