Pam's Progress Since Returning From Germany
From: Bob (bmarkford@aol.com)
Tue Oct 2 23:24:50 2001
Hello All,
Pam and I returned home on Sept. 20th. The flight home will kick you
hard, even healthy folks. After three weeks over there your body just
has enough time to adjust and whammo, back to home time.
We spent the first 4 days getting our sleep habits in synch with US
time. Seven days after returning home Pam went back to work at the
doctor's office giving Chemo and caring for cancer patients. Yes, she
was tired after the days work, but no pain was present. To those going
to Germany and having Dr. Korell perform the first properly done
procedure, you must know it is tough to have success 100% of the time.
He was very excited after Pam's first procedure to see the excellent
work that Dr. Reich and Redan had performed. It made his work easier
allowing him to focus on the chronic thre spots Pam had reocurring.
After the thorough second look he could find NO adhesions reforming in
these areas. Adhesions start the reformation process within 3-4 days.
Pam's first surgery with Dr. Reich was EIGHT hours long. Dr. Korell
only needed just under 2 hours due to the meticulous previous work
performed. He even noted it in the operative report.
The Intergel did the trick and worked as it is supposed to. She did
have some nausea and vomited once, but not from the Intergel. Anytime
you manipulate all of the intestines you can develop an "Illeus" or
basicly a muscle that has been pulled and not wanting to move right
away. This is not because of the Intergel. This can happen anytime the
bowel is completely manipulated looking for adhesions and Pam had it
before. So do not label nausea and vomiting as an adverse reaction to
the Intergel. Adverse reactions are anaphylatic type (hives, itching,
shortness of breath.)
For those wishing more information please feel free to e-mail me
personally. I kept a detailed journal of the trip over there for anyone
wishing to read it. It is rather long though. The language barrier is
not a problem as the people there were all great!
Bottom line is Pam is feeling great. Her bowels are still sluggish, but
moving. What do you expect after years of dealing with kinks and
blockages from adhesions. This takes times as would any muscle (which
the intestines are) to return to normal. We still are holding our
breath until she is 6 months pain free. Remember, medicine is not
warrantied like an appliance.
One final thought, if you are on Oxycontin and have adhesion surgery,
please meet with your pain doctor and have that doctor set up a plan for
you to come off this pill. It works great but you cannot just toss them
aside after surgery. Your body has built both a tolerance and a
dependence on it. Just stopping without a slow, methodical step down
will be very tough on you. Pam was slowly weaned off this over two
weeks with the help of her pain doctor by setting up a dosage schedule
which Dr. Korell helped Pam follow. Today after a 2 mile walk in the
evening she only needed a davorcet for the overall muscular pain, which
is great.
Please take care and consider this alternative, even if Intergel is
released soon here in the USA, Germany is an excellent, cheap
alternative. Our total cost for surgeon, hospital, (everthing included
in one daily charge per day) and a three week stay in the apartment
building vest door came to $4,565.00 in US money. This is unreal and if
presented to your insurance carrier with complete documentation, they
may actually cover, since it is so much cheaper. I can help with this.
Please do not give up hope. There will be a pain free day soon for all
adhesion suffers.
--
In Loving Friendship,
Bob Markford