Re: Adhesions after rectocele repair.

From: Jo Eslick (wallamara@hotmail.com)
Sat Jan 5 22:36:49 2002


Dear Jayne,

Firstly welcome to the board, and secondly, no you are not paranoid! The horrible thing about adhesions is - that ANYTHING is possible and if you read the stories on the adhesions quilt you will understand why I can say that with confidence to you.

The next thing I want to tell you is NOT to agree to any surgery for the moment, unless it is an emergancy situation of-course, even then though I would make sure the surgeon who will do the operation understands and accepts that adhesions cause many problems & PAIN!!

Please arm yourself with knowledge, become familiar with the information available here on the adhesions web site and other sourses on the internet & even in your local library.  Knowledge is power, I have said this often and allows you to make a better and more informed and confident decisions about your treatment.  Something else to keep in mind too, is that a doctor works for you, after all, you pay a fee for his services and therefore you have a right to expect a satisfactory result from his treatment.

Each additional surgery you have has the potential of causing new adhesions increasing your already existing pain and problems.  It is therefore wise to be sure that if further surgery is required you find a surgeon who is skilled and experienced in dealing with adhesions and who also believes that adhesions do cause PAIN!

Ask as many questions as you need, we are here to help you through our own personal experiences.  I am not a medical person, just simply a fellow adhesions sufferer who wants to stop others from following the same road to destruction of a full and active life.

This doesn't mean that we can give up on life, it means we must accept our disabilities and learn to live with them.  One day there will be a cure or at least doctors will know enough about the cause of adhesions to find new surgical methods aimed at reducing the likelyhood of them occuring in future patients.  Presently there are a few adhesions barriers in use in various countries around the world, and at tis stage I would not personally consider surgery to remove adhesions and place barriers in the hope of curing my pain.  I believe that for me, it is too late to hope for complete freedom of pain BUT I know that one day I will be able to live my life with reduced pain, allowing me to resume all the activities I can't do now.

There are so many ways we can activley work to bring our pain down into a controlable level through the use of pain medication and diversional therapies such as visualisation, meditation etc.  I use a combination of things and I have been able to resume a limited number of my charitable works and family and social activities.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have and you can email me at wallamara@hotmail.com or seslick@interact.net.au

yours in friendship

Jo (Australia)

>From: jam001@sympatico.ca (Jayne)
>Reply-To: adhesions@adhesions.org
>To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS
>Subject: Adhesions after rectocele repair.
>Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 22:23:17 -0600
>
>In October 2000 I had a vaginal prolapse repair done and a rectocele
>repair done at the same time (my third rectocele)the surgery was
>performed through a previous incision in my lower abdomen that was done
>in 1991. I had no problems after the surgery and healed quite well.
>
>Unfortunately, by the middle of last year the 'bulge' was back. I went
>back to my OB-GYN who, after examination, told me that my large
>intestine was protuding through the top of my vagina and it would have
>to be repaired.
>
>However, upon starting the surgery he realized that it was actually a
>retocele again and so repaired it but this was after he had already
>opened up where he thought my large intestine was protuding. He also
>tightened my pelvic floor again.
>
>This was last September and again I healed well but for the past few
>weeks I have been in awful pain. I feel like I'm contispated but I'm
>not because I tried using a laxative and nothing happened, if you know
>what I mean? When I sit it feels like something is pushing up from my
>rectum into the area where my abdominal scar is from the surgeries
>performed in 1991 & 2000 and that scar hurts a lot too. When I do have
>a BM again the scar hurts.
>
>I am not a healthy person if you count the many surgeries I have had. I
>have had 31 surgeries including a total knee replacement in 1996 at the
>age of 36, that failed because of adhesion build up and my knee is now
>fused and unable to bend. I had a vaginal hysterectomy at the age of 27
>and since then have had 4 rectoceles repaired, two birch procedures and
>one vaginal prolapse repair.
>
>When I was about 11 I had my appendix removed and had adhesion build-up
>from that, in 1999 I also had my gall bladder removed and the surgeon
>told me it was full of adhesions. My knee, as I said, also built up too
>many adhesions and is the cause of my disability. Now with this past
>record I think it's likely that this pain I am experiencing now is
>caused by adhesions due to the amount of surgery I have done there. I
>have this awful thought that my rectum is stuck to this scar or
>something, sounds silly I know but this pain is pretty uncomfortable.
>
>Do you think this is possible? Am I paranoid about adhesions? If it
>could be adhesions what can be done if anything?
>
>I intend to go and see my OB-GYN over this obviously but I would
>appreciate some feedback on this from this forum too.
>
>Thanks
>
>Jayne
>

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