>Irene, honey, there are definitely people who have been totally cured of
>adhesions by surgery with Dr. Reich. Bev Douchette is one, and you can
>find her story on the quilt I'm sure, as well as doing a search on the
>message board archives for "Bev" (There's only one Bev -- one in a
>million! After being cured of ARD she became a tireless crusader for
>other ARD patients.)
>
>Other people had surgery with Dr. Reich that failed, but they are
>nonetheless impressed that they got the very best surgery from the very
>best surgeon in the world.
>
>There is an adhesion barrier which was approved 15 months ago for use in
>Europe, the UK and Australia called spray gel. It is in clinical trials
>in the US. Some of our members have tracked down a couple of the best
>laporoscopic surgeons in the world who practice in Germany, and they
>have been travelling to Germany to have surgery. Several times per year
>Dr. Reich has been going to the Emma Klinic and doing adhesiolysis
>surgeries there with one of the 2 surgeons that our members have been
>travelling to. In the last 14 months approximately 2 dozen of our
>members have travelled to Germany for surgery with spray-gel, and a
>couple others who are citizens of the UK and Australia have had spray
>gel applied in surgeries close to home. This is of course not a
>scientific study, and not a scientific sample, blah, blah, blah. But on
>the other hand these are people who have had histories of 5, 10, 20, 30
>failed adhesiolysis surgeries, so you would actually expect a BETTER
>success rate from a scientific study than from the likes of of us. Well,
>in fact you couldn't get a better success rate -- every single solitary
>person that we know personally (through this group) has ended their
>surgery adhesion (and adhesion-pain) free. If spray gel were having a
>50% or 75% success rate, then you could argue about what your chances
>are. But 100% is 100%!!!! Those are just astonshingly good results.
>
>That's the good news... The bad news is about money. First of all, if
>you have extensive adhesions that will require extensive surgery to
>remove, then your insurance won't cover it. An adhesions expert knows
>that it will take 8, 10, 12 hours of grueling and incredibly meticulous
>work to have the slightest chance of leaving you adhesion free. Your
>insurance company will pay roughly $2500 for it. They will pay the
>hospital, nurses and anesthesiologists for an hour of operating room
>time. So even if you could find a doctor AND hospital willing, you need
>to understand that they would be doing this out of the goodness of their
>hearts because the insurance company sure won't be paying them. Dr.
>Reich does not accept insurance. Dr. Gerhart and Dr. Redan, who are
>his collegues in PA do accept some insurance, and sometimes Dr. Reich
>will assist and then you pay his fee out of your own pocket. On the
>other hand, there are lots of clueless meatball surgeons out there happy
>to take $2500 to spend an hour or so doing a hack job on your innards
>that will leave you worse off.
>
>So the deal with going to Germany is that you are on your own. It's
>much more reasonable than it sounds, though, because medical care in
>Germany works differently. In the US when you have any sort of medical
>procedure done a big part of the price is "overhead." You are paying for
>part of everybody's malpractice insurance. You are paying to pay off
>their student loans. You are paying for the salaries of all of those
>people who push paper to and from your insurance company. In Germany,
>both by law and custom, there are few malpractice cases. The government
>builds hospitals and trains doctors and nurses. They don't have all of
>the paperwork to push from place to place. When the Germans set the
>price for the surgery, they basically only charge for the things that
>you actually consume. People have reported that the total cost of the
>trip, including airfare for the ARD sufferer and a companion, and even
>some touristing on the side, is about $5000-$7000. Sheesh -- even for a
>"covered" operation in the US you could easily spend half that on
>deductibles and co-pays!
>
>Think about it -- suppose you have 5 surgeries in 8 years and pay
>deductibles and co-pays. And you pay thousands for drugs because all of
>the surgeries fail and leave you worse off than before. You could
>easily be out $20,000 AND be in constant intractible pain. As opposed
>to having your life back AND spending 1/3 the amount of money.
>
>Dr. Reich is absolutely the best, and you are a lucky person to be
>getting a consult with him. Since he practices with the docs at the
>Emma Klinic he can even give you more information about them.
>
>At Wed, 2 Apr 2003, I and J wrote:
>>
>>Hello: I was just wondering did anybody have total relief from adhesions
>>after their surgery with Dr. Riech? I really hope so. I keep reading
>>and all
>>I read is suffering. I know the type of suffering, and I guess people
>>cannot
>>understand it unless they have experienced it themselves. I do not wish
>>it on
>>anyone.
>>I decided to take a walk today,it defintely was up there with one of the
>>worst
>>decisions I have made. My pain today is horrible, the meds are just not
>>working
>>anymore. Have I just acquired a tolerance for them or is the pain
>>worse? I really do not know. My appointment with Dr. Reich is on the
>>8th. In reality it is only a week away, but that week of pain feels
>>like it could be a lifetime away. I guess I am just venting. I really
>>want to know if Dr. Riech has helped anybody?????
>>Thanks for listening,
>>Irene
>
>--
>cathy :-)
>