A t Tue, 23 May 2000, Nancy E. Hale wrote:
> >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. >hello, i am responding to laprascopy, i had it done and had complications 3 days later, the ob dr ripped up my bladder, i spent a couple days in icu and had to have emergencey surgery, due to dr not paying attetion, they told me this can happen in laprascopy surgery, i was so full of infection, i almost didnt make it! have you ever heard of this before? >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