At Thu, 12 Oct 2000, Verna Cohen wrote:
>
>Hi Gang,
>
>Another frustrating doctor's appointment today!! Brief update on my
>history....I had a total hysterectomy with ovaries removed in 1997.
>Less than six months later pain was back in full force. So I went back
>to the doctor who did that surgery and she basically said "I told you
>there were no guarantees about the adhesions not coming back." (she
>didn't really focus on that at all before my surgery by the way) So
>she basically looked at me and said "consider it like having labor pains
>for the rest of your life!" Knowing that I had never had children and
>never would.....I couldn't believe she said that to me. So she then
>looked at me like I had leprosy and said she wouldn't touch the
>adhesions. So then in Nov. of 1998 after a colonscopy showed that my
>intestines were twisted a local surgeon here in Fort Bragg, Calif. did
>surgery on me. I had massive lower abdominal adhesions and a big cyst
>on my left hip. I had almost a year and half of relatively pain free
>life. What a gift!
>
>Since this spring the pains are back and worsening. I have partial
>bowel obstructions all the time, nausea, stabbing pains and total tummy
>soreness. You all know the drill Well I've known that my intestine is
>twisted again....I can just tell. A couple of weeks ago I did some
>major yard work one day....then next day I had a pain so severe that it
>dropped me to the floor. Since then I've spent more time on my couch
>and laying in bed than I have at work or leading any sort of life. Pain
>pills galore... well, you all get the idea better than any doctor ever
>could. So my regular nurse practitioner thought I had a hernia and
>suggested I see my last surgeon.
>
>I went to her today. I was in terrible pain during the exam and she
>couldn't find a hernia. She basically closed my file and said I'm not
>touching it again. There comes the leprosy feeling again. She said
>that she worked on me once and will not deal with my adhesions again
>unless it is an emergency. I felt like yelling at her "This is an
>emergency....I have no quality of life!" So I left her office in tears
>feeling lost.
>
>I have made an appointment to see a specialist at Stanford next week.
>It is a 4 1/2 hr. drive just to get there which will be awful to start
>with. Being in the car does not agree with me these days. I'm afraid
>I will go there and they will say the same thing.
>
>Something different has happened three weeks ago and it is not the usual
>course of adhesion pain. I truly believe something else is going on in
>there. Now I'm afraid of having to go through the whole battery of
>tests: CT scans, barium enema (the worst).
>
>I just had to write this down and get it out. I have had a very teary
>day since leaving the doc's office. I feel so helpless, useless and
>tired. Money is a huge factor for me since we don't have much. My work
>place is thinking about changing insurance plans next year so that puts
>me in a panic.
>
>I think about the docs in Scranton and Dr. Korell and wish that I had
>the funds to just drop everything and go have their expertise put to
>work on my mangled belly. I will starting saving for that in the
>future. But in the meantime I am trapped in this pain and struggling to
>try to work as much as I can and just keep going.
>
>Thanks for listening! I know there isn't anything you can do but
>listen and offer a prayer....and thats just what I'm needing from the
>group today. My husband tries to be as comforting and supportive as he
>can as does my family and friends. But the ties that bond this online
>group together is that we TRULY understand what each of us are going
>through. Thanks for the soft shoulder today!!!
>
>Healing hugs to all,
>Verna
>
>PS...The doctor's name in Stanford that I'm going to see is Mark
>Vierra.....does anyone know of him?