Re: Chris-Question on adhesions-Gina

From: Gina (gina@maine.rr.com)
Fri Oct 22 09:18:21 1999


Hi Chris, Thanks for the logical explanation about exercise. I never thought of it that way (8 hours of sleep negating the daily rolls every 15 minutes). So it's not MY fault, or the docs fault for not having me do this. Ok. Still if I had it to do over again, I would try to move around a little more I think. And I would probably try a barrier, it couldn't hurt, correct? If my pain continues and my bowels continue to be affected, I may opt (if given the choice) for another Lap to remove adhesions, and then I will get my second chance to prevent them, LOL I am still very nauseous whenever I eat anything (bland or not), even taking the prescription zantac with meals. I still have alot of pain with any sort of compression on my belly (from wearing clothes to laying on belly, etc). My pelvic area is still intermittently numb (which also shoots down my right leg) & painful. The bruising in my right pelvic area is finally going away--took long enough! I have one incision right in the middle of my pubic hair over pubic bone. That area is swollen and sore to touch but doesn't look infected. So recovery is a slow still painful process for me but the pain is bearable now. BTW, I did take high doses of Ibuprofen 3x a day, 800 mgs, for 3 weeks after surgery #2, for the swelling. All it did was create what they think might be an ulcer. I still need an upper GI to Dx that but when I went for it last week, they couldn't do it because of bowels. Sigh... Gina

At Thu, 21 Oct 1999, Christine M. Smith wrote: >Hi Gina:
>If it makes you feel any better, and I hope it does, there are no
>guarantees from any of the adhesion barriers. They work for some people
>and not for others. Just the way some people get adhesions after
>surgery and some don't. My surgeon told me that and people on this
>forum have had barriers that didn't work. I am sure my surgeon got his
>opinion from going in and seeing adhesions in people who had barriers
>used previously on them.
>Also, my surgeon operated on me just because it hurt. There was no
>other reason, I had no sign of obstructions or complaints in the area of
>bowel function. It had only been 6 months since the first lap and he
>knew there were other adhesions. But he didn't brush me off and say
>that surgery for adhesions doesn't work. (and as far as we knew at that
>point, my first surgery didn't work because I was complaining about the
>same exact pain.) What he did say was that there were no guarantees and
>that I could even be worse after the surgery. When I asked him if this
>was ever successful he said "sure, or else we wouldn't keep trying, or
>at least I hope we wouldn't keep trying" Gyns who do infertility surgery
>do repeat surgery all the time. But I think you are right there in that
>the difference is the goal-it is not pain control, but pregnancy. And
>most infertility patients would risk future pain to become pregnant.
>I also worried about the post-op period, especially after the second
>lap. Should I be active or restrict my activities? There is no
>guarantee that exercise right after the surgery works, but I agree, its
>something to try. Dr. Bradley wrote on the ob-gyn website that he has
>his patients doing side roles etc. every 15 minutes as soon as they
>return from the recovery room. I worried like you, when I restricted my
>activities, would I just be letting the adhesions solidify. Well, what
>about when you are asleep? Any good you did by exercising in the day
>could easily be negated by 8 hours of relative inactivity during the
>night. I think if adhesions are going to form, they are going to form
>and there isn't a whole lot you can do on your part. There is also some
>thought on presribing large doses of anti-inflammtories post op to cut
>down on inflammation.
>I think that at 5 weeks you are still in the recovery period, even
>though it was a laparoscopy. You had major work done. I wonder if
>those friends and family who tell you that exercise is the best thing
>for adhesions have any experience themselves with adhesions? If my
>problem is adhesions, then exercise made the pain much worse. If it
>isn't adhesions it also made my problem much worse so I guess you can
>tell what I think about exercise!!!:< P I'm talking about strenuous,
>high impact stuff, not necessarily walking or most household activities.
>
>Chris S.


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