I just read your story on the adhesion quilt and I am so sad for you. Sad for all of us actually.
I'm facing surgery in March. This will be my first surgery for removal of adhesions and I am, quite frankly, terrified. I don't know whether to risk it and hope that I am that 1% that will do well and get better or if I should just deal with the pain and obstruction that I currently have and hope that if the bowel ruptures, that I just never wake up at all.
Thank you for your honesty.
-- KatieAt Wed, 18 Feb 2009, KRJ wrote: > >I think we can all attest that all Docs are not created equal. The plain fact is that there is always a risk to a bowel perf or need for a bowel resection if you choose to do a lysis of adhesions. Most of us have to make the decision as to whether or not our quality of life is worth that risk. > >I have personally taken that risk eight times. I have required a bowel resection during one surgery because of the adhesions on the bowel, I have had a bowel perforation found several days after having a laparoscopic surgery done, and I have had the surgery without either. I am about to have another surgery due to a major hernia problem and continued extreme pain which has multiplied due to the bowel perforation that basically made a bad situation worse and in essence reversed everything that was done in the surgery that caused it. FYI, I went to see a doctor in Atlanta (I am in St. Louis, MO) who is supposed to be an expert in endometriosis and adhesions and with doing all his surgeries laparoscopically. His name is Dr. Ken Sinervo. I found him on the internet after searching for so-called experts. He is very nice and very thorough and probably a fantastic surgeon. Unfortunately I just happened to be one of those rare cases of a bowel perf after a > lysis of adhesions especially on the bowel. > >My point is, regardless of it coming back or not...I believe it does and with all of the latest barriers, you have to make the decision on whether or not it's worth it. Unless you just can't stand it any longer and you basically have no life left...do the surgery. Otherwise, the risk of making thing worse is very great. I have been there. Sometimes trying to fix this just makes things worse down the road. One example is that my abdmen wall is now very weak from all of the surgeries. Now I am very prone to hernias. This requires me to have do surgery. And because the intestines are all stuck up under the wall (which we know from a gall bladder surgery in Oct), this is going to be nasty and I am told I could require my THIRD bowel resection. I will require a colostomy if this happens. I hope what I am saying is helpful to those of you who haven't been down this road yet. I know you want relief and I pray it comes. But, I have to agree with most > doctors...it just gets worse in the long run. > >I don't want to depress this bunch and I want to be brutally honest so you can make better decisions. > >My best to all, > >Kelly