Re: My experience with adhesions and Dr. Redan

From: Fern (Fern777Hill@Yahoo.com)
Mon Feb 8 23:00:55 2010


At Sun, 31 Jan 2010, Fern wrote: >
>It seems then That Dr. Redan is a mixed bag. Some do well and some do
>not. Sorry to hear about your experience. (About Suzanne)
>
>--
>Fern Hill
>At Wed, 27 Jan 2010, Suzanne wrote:
>>
>>My story actually begins just over two years ago. I had a total
>>abdominal hysterectomy in July of 2007 due to a large ovarian cyst that
>>was possibly cancerous. Thankfully, it was benign, but the surgeon
>>perforated my intestine and didn't realize it at the time. When I
>>wasn't recovering normally, was weak, and had pain up my side and around
>>my back, the nurses and my family who were with me around the clock
>>asked my surgeon to do some tests to determine what was wrong. He
>>dismissed their concerns, stating that I was suffering from a "post-op
>>ileus". Five days after the hysterectomy, it was obvious to everyone
>>that I was in distress and was extremely sick. The surgeon finally did
>>a CT scan and found I had a perforation. Emergency exploratory surgery
>>followed, resulting in a bowel resection. I had peritonitis and was, in
>>the surgeon's words, "gravely ill". I ended up with a fistula so the
>>staples were ripped out and a wound vac was applied for a few weeks.
>>When the wound vac was removed, the wound was left to heal open (end
>>result five months later when it finally healed was an 8 by 3 inch scar
>>up my abdomen). Eleven days after the second surgery I was still weak
>>and sick, my body was swelling (I am on the thin side so this was quite
>>obvious) and on oxygen. My surgeon was talking about discharging me at
>>the end of the week and this was Wednesday! At two in the morning during
>>that night, while in the care of a very astute nurse whom I credit with
>>saving my life, I was rushed to the ICU in respiratory failure. They
>>told my husband they didn't know if I had brain damage and they were not
>>sure if I'd had a heart attack, but that my lungs had collapsed and they
>>had called the Chaplain...and I was on a ventilator. My husband was in
>>disbelief, obviously, and my children thought they were going to lose
>>their mother. Had this surgeon monitored my albumin levels, he would
>>have found them to be so low that my body was not able to process all of
>>the fluids I was receiving intraveneously, and this situation could have
>>easily been averted. I was in the hospital for three weeks, went home
>>for a week, was still short of breath and running fevers, and was
>>readmitted only to have a chest tube placed to drain more fluid from
>>around my lungs for another week. All in all I've had over twenty three
>>CT scans and forty chest x-rays. With each CT scan being about the
>>equivalent of five hundred chest x-rays, I live in fear that one of
>>these days I could be diagnosed with some form of cancer. It took me a
>>full year to recover and gain back the twenty pounds I lost as I was TPN
>>(no food by mouth) for five weeks and had a difficult time getting my
>>appetite back. Those are just the highlights of my hospitalization;
>>there were many other things that went wrong.
>>
>>In the past eighteen months I've been hospitalized three times (at a
>>different hospital) with bowel obstructions due to adhesions from my
>>abdominal surgeries. They have always resolved with decompression
>>treatment in the hospital, but I was told by the surgeons that
>>eventually I will likely have one that will not respond to treatment and
>>will require emergency surgery. They also told me that every time I
>>have a bowel obstruction, the chances of having another one increase,
>>and may take longer to resolve. One of these surgeons actually told me
>>that he has a patient who is hospitalized with bowel obstructions almost
>>monthly. These men are highly respected surgeons in my community. Why
>>could they not do something for their patients who are struggling with
>>issues due to adhesions? They told me they would not perform surgery on
>>me because it would only create more adhesions, so my future was looking
>>grim.what a vicious cycle. I believed I had no recourse, but I couldn't
>>imagine living this way the rest of my life. It was always stressful on
>>my family (I have four children) to have to leave suddenly and be
>>hospitalized for an unknown length of time. The psychological issues
>>were difficult for me as well, with a huge scar constantly reminding me
>>of my traumatic ordeal and the physical discomfort of my distended
>>abdomen and my insides pushing up on my ribcage every time I sat down or
>>leaned over. The prospect of living the rest of my life like this was
>>depressing, to say the least. Also scary for me was the fact that I
>>might end up requiring emergency surgery to repair a bowel obstruction.
>>Who would perform this surgery, a surgeon on call? I had been through
>>too much to allow just any surgeon to operate on me.
>>
>>This past summer during an appointment with my gynecologist, he
>>mentioned the CAPPS program and although he didn't know the specifics of
>>the program nor Dr. Redan, he knew a woman who had a successful
>>experience a few years ago, and he suggested I look into it. I
>>immediately went home and researched Florida Hospital at Celebration,
>>Dr. Redan, and the CAPPS program. I couldn't believe I was actually
>>considering having surgery again as I had lost so much faith in the
>>medical community. I wondered how this surgeon could help me when no
>>other surgeon I spoke with would consider me for surgery. I had a
>>consultation with Dr. Redan in September of 2009 and immediately felt
>>hopeful about my future. I found Dr. Redan to be not only
>>compassionate and kind, but empathetic regarding the trauma I endured
>>and the psychological issues that went along with it. After examining
>>my abdomen, he stated that he felt he could help me, but that I was not
>>a candidate for laparoscopic surgery due to the damage to my abdominal
>>wall and the large scar. This was disappointing to me as I was fearful
>>of open surgery after my previous experience, but already I felt that
>>Dr. Redan was the surgeon who would restore my faith. He explained the
>>surgical procedure that he would perform if I chose to go ahead with the
>>surgery, and answered every one of my questions, making me feel as if he
>>had all the time in the world to spend with me. When I left, he told me
>>to call him with any further questions and encouraged my husband to call
>>as well as he could not accompany me to the appointment. Leaving Dr.
>>Redan's office, I felt wonderfully optimistic.finally! Dr. Redan had a
>>plan for me, and his plan included a plastic surgeon to reconstruct my
>>abdominal wall, repair the incisional hernia, and remove forever the
>>horrific scar that prevents me from forgetting the trauma I endured.
>>
>>The following week I had an appointment with Dr. John Louis, the
>>plastic surgeon who would work with Dr. Redan. They had discussed my
>>case during the week, and Dr. Louis shared his plan for my care with
>>me. Once again, I knew I was in good hands, and this meeting convinced
>>me that making the decision to have this surgery was the right one for
>>me. Like Dr. Redan, Dr. Louis is kind and compassionate, and spent a
>>great deal of time answering all of my questions. I left his office
>>with a date for my surgery!
>>

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