Re: Dr. R and R................................re-posted for Bev
From: Helen Dynda (olddad66@runestone.net)
Thu Sep 21 16:43:45 2000
At Thu, 21 Sep 2000, Bernie and Beverly Doucette wrote:
Hello Kathy,
I had surgery under Dr. Reich on April 22nd, 1999. I am doing
wonderful. It took about four months before I actually started to gain
energy back and have the surgical pain completely subside ( and you can
bet that during that four months, I was SURE my surgery had been a
failure!!! ) BUT it was not!
Even though I do experience a dull ache in my lower right quadrant, it
is not something I even pay attention to! I am NOT on any medications, I
can do EVERYTHING that I want to do, I DO NOT do sit ups, or run...but I
don't want to... and I am 50 years old, so why the heck should I, if I
don't want to!! My goodness, I lost five years of my life to this
disease and that was only the time lapse between my adhesiolysis of 1995
and this one in 1999...I have been battling ARD for 14 years total and
too darn many surgeries!
What I CAN do now is touch my toes, sit in a chair for over 10 minutes,
ride in a car, I can actually hop in and out of our van, get in and out
of bed and the bathtub, go shopping alone, eat in a restaurant, dance,
eat " normal "...AND even nasty fatty foods, have Bowel movements...get
up at 6am...go to bed at 10pm...sleep like a rock, as I am on the go all
the time, that is when my husband lets me sleep!!! :-) ( Bev winking
here!! )
Now, some of those things may not sound too significant to others, nor
to you Kathy, but to me they were all things I could NOT do for those
five years...for those five years I lived on about 22 pills of various
kinds per day. Were they prescribed that way, no, but due to my pain
levels I took them when I needed them, and over a five years period of
taking pills like that you tend to burn out your esophagus and stomach
lining, thus you begin to build what is meant by the " Related " in
Adhesion Related Disease!!
I added GERD ( gastroesophageal reflux disease ) to my already growing
number of diagnosis's. I started to show signs of liver and kidney
toxicity due to the overwhelming amount of medications flowing through
my system...but so what, with no indications of any medical intervention
for me for my ARD, what difference did it make how I would die
physically as I was already slowly dying inside! This is just NOW
starting to clear up and I am off the Prilosec ( and I learned how to
deal with GERD through the IAS support group here!! ); but this was NOT
related to my ARD though...based on the Drs. I saw. ( Bev laughing at
this absurdity, man IF I knew what was causing all this, why couldn't
they see it! Talk about..well never mind! )
Then the bowel problems started, not only the chronic pain, constant
gnawing to sharp pains in my abdomen, but that ever present low back
ache ( had to be a back or disk problem, the nuerologist said, I won't
tell you what I said to her, but I never did have any tests done by her,
you can bet!! ) ( I shudder as I think about it and this isn't too
pleasant to be thinking back on either, maybe THAT is why ARD patients,
who have recovered, don't do this, hmmmm!! )
I could tell when the stool was actually trying to pass through problem
and painful areas in my intestines ( even though I didn't know at the
time that narrowing and very severely attached intestines all pulled out
of whack, wrapped together like a string of wieners and dropped into a
sack and encased in adhesions PLUS my lower right intestine was upside
down and crossed over my entire abdomen and attached to the oposite wall
is the best way to describe what Dr. Reich separated!! ) This is what
was causing it at the time. I DID know there was something slowing and
almost stopping my stool from passing through my intestines though
without question!!! And the pain was so overwhelming that I would get
nauseated just from trying to go to the bathroom! And to add insult to
injury, pain medication has the side affect of constipation, ( Yup, just
like a good marriage my friends, to have and to hold!! ) Sooo, now add
that to stool that already has a few obstacles in the way and I can tell
you it was nothing short of an Olympic maneuver to even have a bowel
movement when you're living with ARD!!!!!! Once completed...I would have
won the GOLD no doubt!!! So you start to take laxatives...then you start
to go from constipation to loose stools...but that's ok, that's " IBS "
Irritable Bowel Syndrome "...But this was NOT related to ARD though,
based on the Dr's I saw. ( Bev laughing at this stupidity now, as it
was getting pretty deep everytime I went to see my Dr.or Dr's office,
heck, I left wondering why I even went in the first place!! )
Then, suffer chronic pain 24 hours a day seven days a week, taking pills
constantly, vomiting constantly, carrying a plastic bag, for obvious
reasons, everywhere you went...IF you did happen to go out, ( which sure
wasn't much in my case!! ) forget sleeping as even though you took five
sleep pills and a pain pill every two hours throughout the night, you
were never rested when the morning sun came up, and you saw it come up
as you beat the sun up every morning due to lack of sleep from pain!
Roll over in bed, forget it...pain! Lay on your back, forget it, sleep
with four pillow behind you, so that the adhesions didn't pull so much
when you moved, might offer some relief, but never for too long....so
you're so tired all the time....but that is simply " Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome " you know...and you know who said it too!! NOT from ARD
though!! ( Bev laughing here!! BUT they were right on this one, it WAS
chronic fatigue all right!!!)
Now, before there was an International Adhesion Society, it was each man
for himself...to figure out what was not only wrong with them, and that
was NOT an easy task as many many Dr's as well as surgeons have told me
that simply because you have had umpteen surgeries for adhesions, that
doesn't mean that adhesions cause pain or even problems for that matter.
( And one of those claims was made to me at the Mayo clinic in
Minnestota!! )
I credit my medical background and stubborness to actually saving nme
from accepting more surgical procedures as they sure were offered every
time I went to see a Dr. Had to be a surgical case as nothing ever
showed up on diagnostic testings! Have to have a " look see " (
diagnostic surgical procedure ). I stopped that fast as it didn't take
me long to figure out that this wasn't the answer...my pain always
returned and even greater pain levels resulted following that surgery
that was supposed to help me...and still no reasons for that new pain.
Always starting over...doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out
that, if all diagnostic testing results in negative findings, and a
person has a history of adhesions, well, maybe it IS adhesion related
pain and problems...and maybe not, but in my case, no surgeon was going
to ever touch me again unless they - at the very least - KNEW about the
word adhesion, could show knowledge in the area of adhesions and prove
to ME that they could actually offer me something different in a surgery
to help me...as well as offer me a real chance to get well, if that even
existed in the world!
And it did exist...many times as I lay on our couch suffering, I would
say to my husband that it irritated me that NO ONE seemed to be looking
into how to fight adhesions. It was like I was left to drift on a raft
in a sea of no return...so alone and just waiting to die...and he would
always answer me this way, " Honey, there has to be someone out there
who IS doing something about adhesions. We just haven't found him,
thats all. Something will come our way, just trust that!! "
Once this society was formed and functioning, due to the efforts of Dr.
David Wiseman and others, on January 1999...
the world opened up! Cat lines, postings, conversations with others who
suffered adhesions, my GOD we were everywhere!! Helen, Anne, Laura and I
laugh when we talk about how we thought we were the only ones who
suffered with adhesions, this rare disorder...elusive disease...and when
I say " only ones " I mean we thought that each of us was the only one
with this disease...then there were four, then five, then a hundred and
now thousands...talk about choosing the most fitting introduction for
this society..." You are Not Alone " !
Then a name popped up, a surgeon who WAS trying to figure these
adhesions out! A surgeon who WAS trying special surgical techniques to
help us...a surgeon who DID actually understand and actually " think "
like an adhesion! And a surgeon who in fact could offer me the best
chance for a RECOVERY from an adhesiolysis - by NOT suffering reforming
attached adhesions after the surgery. Too good to be true? Well, all I
can say is...this has been the longest period of time I have gone
without that 'ol familiar pain starting up again, and I take each day at
a time, little by little my fears are going away, I am starting to be
filled with real thoughts that I am cured, I enjoy life to the fullest
and maybe, just maybe...that most precious surgeon, my dearest Dr. Harry
Reich..did the job the right way!
I am off now to go get groceries, and then bike riding with my husband
after we go out to dinner with our daughter...and we are first time
grandparents, so I'm going shopping all afternoon for baby Jacob...BUT I
must add that Dr. Reich cannot do everything with his adhesiolysis. You
see, just before my surgery with Dr. Reich, my husband asked him if he
thought I would be able to cook and bake following my adhesiolysis with
him. Dr. Reich said he couldn't see a reason why I couldn't cook or
bake...and my husband was so happy, as I had never been able to cook or
bake BEFORE I had adhesions...so my husband thought Dr. Reich was more
of a GOD then I did...and I sure did think that and I still do.
Dr. Reich...you're my hero! May you and Dr. Redan continue to touch
these lives as you have touched mine...let no man put under what GOD has
joined together!! The Dr's to watch for are: Dr. Reich, Dr. Redan, Dr.
Korell and Dr. Semertzides - as these surgeons have shown a knowledge
that is unsurpassed by any others when it comes to ARD. And many, many
people are a walking testament to what these Drs. will do for adhesion
sufferers through their surgery!
So, you see Kathy, you now have hope, a path in which to follow, and
most importantly a chance for recovery, and I AM a true testament of all
that my dear!!
In friendship and peace
Beverly
>----- Original Message -----
From: Kathy L. <kjlu9857@velocity.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS <adhesions@obgyn.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 10:41 PM
Subject: Dr. R and R
Thank you ladies for giving positive feedback about these two doctors. I
am in the process of trying to have surgery by these doctors in October
or November and it is good to see that there have been successes. I am
not naive enought to think that all of my problems will be solved, but I
do think that this surgery will take away the pain that is unbearable;
the pain that keeps me from functioning each day and enjoying life. No
one is going to feel 100% everyday, but we all want some sense of a
normal life.
You are all wonderful, caring people, thanks again!
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