Hi Ginni,
well, when I had my bowel resection it was during my hysterectomy. They couldnt see any of my uterus/ovaries etc for scar tissue and one ovary was embedded in the bowel.When they did the horizontal incision for the hyst they immediately ruptured the bowel. Becasue they weren't expecting this it all happened in a bit of a rush so I actually had a horizontal and vertical incision for the op.
Luckily that is a 'worst case senario' and I am pleased you have the time to look at your options. I agree with what you said about the laparotomy as I think things only got so bad inside me AFTER I had one.But they said there was no alternative as they couldnt see through adhesions on the previous lap.
i think if you can have a lap to consider it but keep in mind that you dont want them to blindly rumage around as they could cause more damage and end up doing an emergency laparotomy. It might be better to have a controlled laparotomy from the outset.
Unfortunately there are no easy decisions. Dispite having had my hyst and bowel resection over 18months ago I am now facing further surgery my self - either a lap or laparotomy - so I know how nervous you are.Sometimes it seems never ending...
I hope it goes well for you, do let me know
-- Janet