This statement that your doctor stated bothers me: "What she is planning on doing this time is to make a full incision and wrap my organs in some kind of saran wrap like material that will dissolve over time and give me a chance to heal without allowing adhesions to attach." At this time, there is no such thing. Nothing seems to work completely, = the best bet is SprayGel, but that is not available in the US yet, and = from the reports that I am getting back from patients of SprayGel, they = are still having problems as well. You should really read some of the = postings on the boards, and educate yourself as much as possible. Yes, = some of these stories are extreme, but that does not mean that will be = where you end up. I have had adhesions for approx. 15 years. I have = had a hysterectomy, and adhesion surgeries, (and have been packed with = Interceed) but they are back and I live on pain pills now. You need to = have your surgery, if this is the route you choose, done by someone with extensive experience with adhesions, not one who has just done this = before. I made this mistake, and this board has made me realize how important the right doctor is if surgery is your choice of relief. There is no cure for adhesions at this time, period. The more surgeries, the more adhesions, normally. Get educated as much as possible, and utilize all of your options. Where are you located? Maybe one of the board members can recommend a great doctor for adhesion = removal, or at least a good second opinion.
Best of luck in your choices.
J. Love
> ----- Original Message -----
From: Julie Clark
To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2003 1:40 PM
Subject: 3rd Surgery in 4 months
This is my first post and I haven't read many of the messages on here because quite honestly, they scare me. I have only dealt with adhesions for the last few months. I didn't even know what they were until recently. I now need some advice though if there is anyone that can help me.
First my story. In January I started having pain in my left side that radiated down into my thigh. I had a history of migraines and they = were intensified to the point that I was having a headache every day, apparently because of the influx of hormones being produced by what = was going on with my ovaries. Jump to a lot of different doctor consultations and I had a hysterectomy in May. My gyno said he had to do a full hysto because my ovaries and uterus were enlarged and full = of cysts and I had adhesions attached to my intestine on my left side and at the pelvic rim which was causing the pain in my side. The surgery was May 29. I went back to work 6 weeks later. 2 weeks after that, = the pain returned. It intensified so fast that on Sunday, August 3 I had = my husband take me to the emergency room. I hadn't had a bowel movement = in 3 days. The ER doc heard no bowel sounds and admitted me with a possible obstructed bowel. My gynecologist was on vacation so the doctor on call saw me the next morning and said that I didn't have a complete obstruction but she believed the adhesions were back and I would need another surgery. They kept me in the hospital for pain control and I had my second surgery on that Wednesday. Dr. Ottman, = the covering gynecologist who performed the surgery, said that I was completely full of adhesions. They had attached to my bladder, kidneys, rectum and intestines. She put the spray in that was supposed to help keep them from coming back so soon (yeah right). I went back to my regular doctor for my 2 week check after surgery and he left the stitches in telling me they would dissolve. On the third week anniversary, the stitches, that were not the kind that dissolved, were infected on the inside. I went back to Dr. Ottman who removed them = and she became my gynecologist. The pain in my left side, however, has never left. I have not been off of pain medications since my second surgery. I have went back to work and put in as many hours as I can although they aren't very many.
Here we are, tomorrow is the 5 week anniversary of my second surgery = and I found out last Friday that I will have yet my third surgery on the 24th. What she is planning on doing this time is to make a full incision and wrap my organs in some kind of saran wrap like material that will dissolve over time and give me a chance to heal without allowing adhesions to attach.
She told me I could get a second opinion on this if I chose, but my original doctor had already told me this would be the next step so I went ahead and scheduled the surgery. I am desperate. I can't afford to lose my job and I have missed over half the year already. I know = she has done this surgery before. Her nurse has had it done and it worked great for her. Can anyone here tell me if they have had it and what = it entailed? I am scared? God did bless me by taking away my migraines. = I don't think I could deal with migraines on top of the adhesions although I would take migraines over adhesions because at least with them, I wasn't in pain every day.
Now that I've written my book, can anyone offer me any hope?
-- Julie Clark
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