Did you get the information regarding Dr. Thierry Vancaillie in Sydney? I don't know if you are close to Sydney or have the capabilities of getting there, but he has been referred to those members of this group that live in Australia by Dr. Reich. They belong to the same women's group and apparently is quite skilled in dealing with adhesions. I have sent this information to Robyne as I felt it might be worth her getting a second opinion prior to her undergoing such critical surgery. I have not heard back from her...I just pray that she is okay. I have been through many of the same things she has and if I can prevent her from having the same things happening to her that I have had happen to me I will be rejoicing! I don't proclaim myself to be an expert on anything...just know that I allowed my physicians to do anything they could convince me into...only finding out now that everything could have been prevented.
God Bless....and you keep enjoying that beauty that you have before you. Our struggles sure make us realize what we should be valuing in life.
Karla
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
>
http://www.adhesions.org/forums/listcmds.htm
>