Abdominal Adhesions
From: IAS Admin (tracy.joslin@adhesions.org)
Fri Jun 20 20:48:41 2008
From: adhesions@adhesions.org [mailto:adhesions@adhesions.org] On Behalf Of
carynlruzich@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 9:19 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS
Subject: Re: Abdominal Adhesions
Deanna,
It could very well be adhesions. They start out feeling like a kink or a
knot. Pain can radiate through your back or up your back depending on where
your adhesions are. They eventually will feel as if they're actually
strangling your insides. Most times, I can't stand to wear pants unless
they are really, really loose. Form fitting clothes are out of the questions
for me. I can only stand 'being dressed' for a few hours without feeling
discomfort. I feel like my insides hurt a lot of the time. Now some of
what I'm feeling could be visceral nerve damage from having so many
surgeries. In essence, I'm feeling my insides which you're not supposed to
feel. But because of nerve damage, I do feel my insides. I learned about
that after several different trips to a pain clinic. For me, pain
medications isn't even an option which makes dealing with this extremely
difficult. Pain medication only slows my digestive tr ack which will end up
causing a bowel obstruction. It's really a vicious circle.
I am living proof that you can learn to cope. About every two years I have
to have a laparoscopy. Luckily I was turned on to an excellent surgeon who
is a master of laparoscopy. He actually pioneered the lapro technical for
the removal of the gall bladder. I can't even count how many open surgeries
I've had and they are what causes the most damage in terms of adhesions. At
least with laparoscopy, the incisions are small so theoretically, the
adhesions should be small or less. I just had surgery again about 6 weeks
ago and already I feel them back. Not bad, but back.
Unfortunately for us docs don't have much to offer. It's really a crime.
Your lucky if they offer pain medicine. I've been to University hospitals,
Mayo Clinic, etc. I recently heard about a new liquid adhesive that was
developed in Germany and is now being tested. If only they could find a way
to turn off the healing process that feeds adhesions. My mother had
adhesion problems 40 years ago, so it's not a new problem. I suppose it's
due to people having more surgeries than ever before. I know a big chunk of
health care goes into treating these things, if only they'd put their money
into finding a way to stop adhesions in the first place, it would be a
better investment.
Best of luck to you,
Caryn
>-------------- Original message --------------
From: "IAS Admin (Tracy)" <tracy.joslin@adhesions.org>
> Sender: michels96@msn.com (Deanna)
> Subject: Abdominal Adhesions
>
> Hi, I just happened to run across this forum while googling adhesions. I
> don't know if I am suffering from this but I can only assume at this
> point. A little history- I had my gall bladder removed in 2004. I have
> been stented 13 times in my bile ducts between 2002 and 2007. In 2007 I
> had to have my lower lobe of my liver, the upper head of my pancreas,
> and my entire biliary tree removed. 2 separate openings were made in my
> small intestines to re-attact the remaining liver and pancreas. This
> was a horrible surgery recovery wise but I was beginning to see the
> light at the end of the tunnel. My problem now is that I have this
> uncomfortable feeling that my intestines are trying to twist. Pain
> level 4 out of 10. It was happening maybe 2-3 times daily but now it is
> happening about every 15-20 minutes. Occasionally when it happens pain
> radiates up to my left shoulder and it feels as though someone is trying
> to rip it off. I have not called my dr. yet out of stubborness, but I
> was wondering what kind of symptoms other suffers have had. Please
> help!! Thank You, Deanna
>
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