Re: gallbladder removal and adhesions

From: JayneCanada (spiregen@webcomcreations.com)
Thu Feb 5 21:40:52 2004


This sounds exactly what I had and still have.

For about 5 years I had constant pain underneath my right ribcage, radiating round to the back. Doctor says it's gall-bladder so they whipped it out (full of adhesions apparently) but the pain continues.

A year later they find I am riddled with kidney stones after I end up in ER urinating blood, so that's why she still has this pain they say. Not so, the pain continues. Over the next few years I end up in ER with extreme pain thinking it could only be a kidney stone, all IVP's show nothing.

Last time I ended up in ER tests revealed a blocked kidney, or so they thought. Urologist comes to see me and calls ER doc an idiot because he doesn't know what he's talking about, there is no blockage. The pain is caused by...IBS!

Go to see family doctor, get referred to GI doc. have extremely painful colonscopy (had to beg doctor to stop, ended up with a barium enema) to find redundant bowel and adhesions in my lower colon. Make sure I have a bowel movement everyday and all will be fine.

Again not so, pain continues and, like you, feels like a gall-bladder attack but if I put my hand on my side and push in the pain goes away. Could this be I'm pushing that redundant bowel to one side? Having said that a couple of times I'll bend over and then be 'stuck' trying to get back up because it feels like something is 'ripping' inside me and I then have to slowly straighten up.

When I had my gall bladder out I was told it was full of adhesions, apparently a good thing, as Dr. Wiseman said, the adhesions prevented my gall bladder from rupturing. So I guess adhesions are good for something, not much I would I say.

In Canada, we're not as fortunate as the US in the sense that there you have doctors that believe adhesions exist and understand you (maybe not all doctors but some). Here, all we get is "Ok, you have adhesions what do you want me to do about it? There are no tests to identify adhesions and so you'll have to live with it!"

Fortunately, I'm on pain killers for other problems so I get some relief but I don't know how much longer it'll be before they stop working.

I guess in some way we do have the better doctors here because they will not operate on you for fear of additional adhesions forming. Best form of protection there is, right?

Anyway, I'm rambling, it's 2:20 a.m. and I'm going to try to get some sleep. ;-)

Take care

Jayne St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada


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