Six Month Update
From: Nancy (wellenzohn@msn.com)
Sun Feb 15 14:30:01 2004
I just thought that I would write a short update about my most
recent surgery (my sixth in 10 years).
I travelled to Pennsylvania to have surgery with Dr. Reich
and Dr. Gerhart last August. As of today, I can say that I
feel good. I know that it's only been six months and by no
means can I say that I am "cured", but I am hopeful. I cannot
say that I am completely symptom free, but I am pain free and
digesting normally with the help of lactulose (this is an
insoluable sugar). I had extensive adhesions and a few areas
of hidden endometriosis. Most of the surgery was done
without heat and this was significantly different than with
any of my other doctors. Dr. Reich and Dr. Gerhart believe
that the heat, like laser or cautery, cause more damage than
they solve in the long run. The only place that they used
heat was when they excised the endometriosis. I think that
the little tightness that I feel now is near that area.
The reason that I am hopeful is this - I have leveled off.
After the post surgical healing, thing just sort of stopped.
I susect that there are some adhesions in there, but they
must be situated in such a way that doesn't cause any problems.
Most of my pain came because my colon was stuck in a "N" shape.
Food just couldn't make the turns. I know that the sharp
turns are gone. I use the lactulose to keep things soft,
but I am as regular as a clock and have no pain. After my
previous surgeries, I was much worse off at this point.
Again, I hesitate to say that I am cured until more time
has passed. I also think that "cured" may be the wrong
word to use. Maybe it is better to hope for long term
relief of symptoms. I can say this, however. If I do
ever need to have surgery again, I will travel back to
Pennsylvania. They are, by far, the most knowlegeable
about this disease and how to minimize its impact. And,
just maybe, I have bought a few years until this Spray Gel
stuff becomes available in the United States. For me, they
ground up a product called Seprafilm (it comes in
sheets) and added saline to form a gel. They squirted this
gel in through the laparoscope opening. I don't know how
much it helped, but so far, so good.
I try to watch this board every so often because it helped
me greatly. I'll try to post again in another 6 month to
tell how I am doing.
Hopefully I will still be feeling good.
--
Nancy
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