Welcome to our world, it is not a very pleasant world, but we are able to offer support in those in times of need.
For one in the middle of what sounds like a vicious circle of adhesion vs operations. There are a lot of us in the same condition, mostly women, but a few men too. The only hope we currently have is for the FDA to pass the use of SprayGel (you can look up info on this by typing in SprayGel into a search engine, I believe it is manufactured by Confluent Inc) This is an adhesion barrier that is absorbed by the body about 2 weeks after surgery which allows time for the incisions to heal without forming adhesions. Nasty things!
You said that you were going to see a surgeon? What I thing you may really need is to look for a Dr that will be empathic and knowledgeable of adhesions, you will most likely need the assistance of pain meds, something like Oxycotin works best for this type of thing because it is long lasting and doesn't make you loopy after your system has adjusted to it. I am raising 3 children one of which is a teenager and I have to be able to stay alert and able to attend conferences and such. I take Oxycotin and find it has worked well for me over the years.
You might not want to seek another operation until after the use of SprayGel is approved for use in the US, but you might need to seek the assistance of a Dr to work with you until such a time, to control your pain and keep you comfortable. Have your Dr keep a look out for bowel obstructions, or kinking of the bowel, intestines ect. there has been a lot of talk on the message board lately about colonoscopys, personally I'm against it unless there is an obstruction, while the colonoscopy can help with directly related issues, it doesn't detect adhesions, nothing really does, not ultra sounds or CT scans or X-rays, they can go inside of you with laparoscopes, but even that is risky.
Well this is about all I can tell you for now, if you have any questions, the message board is a great place to look for answers, ideas, and support. There is also the Adhesions Quilt which is a good place to relate. Hope I helped a little, Take Care, Pain Free Hugs and Best Wishes to you and yours, Tammy Lynn Taber
>----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 11:22 PM
Sender: suziewag@Msn.com (sue)
Subject: adhesions
I am a 47 year old female in pain everyday of my life since February 2000.