Re: Laprascopy complications question

From: Nancy E. Hale (nanny@mailserv.nbnet.nb.ca)
Tue May 23 12:46:25 2000


I have several posts that I want to respond to.

First, JIM - I had a diagnostic lap done in March in which the surgeon used CO2 to inflate the abdomen. The only side effect I had from the gas was a bit of upper chest/shoulder area pain for a day or so after the surgery. Not really pain, just discomfort. I was warned of the possibility of this prior to surgery.

The only other problem I had with the diagnostic lap was that the lower incision was slow to heal. I had a rather large bruised area around that incision post-op, which I assume to be from the fact that the gynecologist who did the surgery went in looking for endometriosis and instead found severe dense adhesions in the right side of the abdomen from an appendectomy 38 years ago. He did lyse some of these adhesions during the surgery (I was under for an hour and a half instead of the half to three-quarters he had suggested to me prior to surgery), but the majority of the adhesions involve the bowel and intestine and he was not prepared to convert to a laparotomy or to tackle this area at the time as he has little to no experience in bowel surgery. I am waiting for another appointment with a general surgeon to schedule further surgery.

Since the diagnostic lap in March, I have started experiencing sharp, stabbing pains in the navel area, which I did not have prior to the lap. I am assuming that I have new adhesions forming around the navel incision, but have no proof of this.

Second, Chris - I too was put on a drug similar to elavil, mine being Amitryptilene. I found no benefit from it whatsoever, except that I did sleep a lot which helped to some extent. But it was not a restful sleep, as the drug did nothing to combat the pain. I also tried Indocid suppositories, which I reacted to with nausea and dizzyness. I am currently on 2400 mg of Ibuprofen a day to attempt to keep the pain at a tolerable level. Most of the time it works - thank God I have a cast iron stomach, as I have no side effects from that high a dose. I do still have break-through pain, which puts me to bed in a ball.

I am also trying to keep my mind busy and ignore as much break-through pain as I can. I have been sewing and crafting, and did get a little bit of work done on my car yesterday (although that did not help painwise), and have also been repairing computers - last week I completely wiped and reprogrammed a friend's laptop and corrected a CMOS programming error on another friend's desktop, as well as doing an estimate on an upgrade for a third person. When I take on a project, I do not put a time frame on it, as I don't know how much work I will be able to tackle before I keel over from pain.

Third, Toni, - I can understand your feelings of hopelessness and fear of surgery. When I went for the cystoscopy in December, I was terrified of being put to sleep and not waking up. When I had the diagnostic lap in March, I was completely calm and relaxed about the anesthesia. Now, however, my GP wants me to have my adhesiolysis done in the local hospital - which is definitely small-town, and almost every week there is an article in the local paper about how the hospital needs money for repairs and upgrades. I am scared to death of having surgery in this hospital, as I don't know how good the anesthesiologist is, if the hospital is equipped to do a conversion to laparotomy if necessary, or how experienced the general surgeon I am going to see is when it comes to dealing with adhesions on the bowel and intestines. If the organs should get damaged and peritonitis set in, would the local hospital be able to handle that without shipping me to Fredericton, which is 65 miles away - an expensive ambulance ride at the least.

Someone else mentioned sex - I'm not sure about anyone else, but if my Other Half gets that look in his eye, he'd better be looking at someone else, because he isn't coming near me!!!! The pain is worse during and after for about two days to the extent that even the 2400 mg won't touch it, and the pleasure just isn't worth it.

My greatest joy right now is that spring has sprung in the Great White North (LOL) and the birds have returned in large numbers. I have a feeder outside my living room window for the song birds and two feeders visible from my kitchen window for my hummingbirds. The other evening I counted 10 large bluejays under the living room window, and I have had mourning doves, American goldfinches, evening grosbeaks, rose breasted grosbeaks, chipping sparrows, white crested sparrows, cow birds, starlings, grackles, and even one lonely little indigo bunting, all of whom serenade me into relaxation. My four cats, who are house cats, not allowed outside, sit in the windows for hours watching the birds. The youngest cat will eventually give herself brain damage as she insists on attempting to catch the birds through a thermal glazed window - head first. I also have a pair of wild rabbits that have made their home in my back yard, and enjoy watching them trim my lawn.

This has turned into a bit of a rant, but my point is that I don't rely on the medical profession to help me deal with this. You have to take comfort in the things that you can and try not to dwell on the things that frustrate you. Constant debilitating pain does cause depression, which seems to intensify the pain. If we can't get the pain cured, we have to live around it the best way we can.

Nancy ICQ 9683431


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