Re: Sigh

From: Christine M. Smith (smithy@maine.rr.com)
Fri May 28 20:28:47 1999


At Fri, 28 May 1999, Helen from Chicago wrote: >
>I feel so bad when I read all of our posts. I am blessed thus far...my
>pain is bearable. I have had adhesions for 20 months so far. I had a
>surgery last August to separate them and of course, they are back.
>
>But so far, the pain is bearable...but its 9 months since surgery..but
>it also scares me that no one can figure out a method to deal with
>this!!
>
>But I would like to ask a general question. My adhesions returned..no
>doubt about that...I know theyre there. So the Interceed DIDNT work.
>But I honestly dont feel them getting worse...maybe they just progress
>slowly. They are kind of just there...pulling, and throbbing, burning.
>So I am wondering if over time, I will get to a terrible stage??? Can I
>expect to get worse? More surgery?? Did you all start out at a bearable
>stage and over time, get progressively worse? I would like to know what
>I am up against.
>
>My doctor says my adhesions are at the bottom of the
>ascending/descending colon and doesnt expect me to get
>obstructions...but of course, they're always the chance. He says I
>should just leave them alone..No more surgery. So far, I dont have
>problems with BMs. Because honestly, if I dont get worse over time..I
>could live my life with this...so far, I feel blessed...but I am scared
>of what my future COULD hold. I am not without pain or
>discomfort...because there is..I cant wear belts or jeans...too
>uncomfortable...but thankfully, its bearable.
>
>I am sorry to read such terrible stories of doctor's runarounds, waiting
>for doctor's appts, doctor's results, doctor's phonecalls, etc. I KNOW
>EXACTLY HOW ALL OF YOU FEEL. I cant think of anything worse...is to
>wait for THE CALL...
>
>Until I was diagnosed with adhesions...I went thru 10 months of DAILY
>DAILY hell, going from doctor to doctor, 3 ultrasounds, colonoscopies,
>nights laying aware in worry, tears..the fear, of what's wrong, who can
>help me..etc. I sympathisize SO much with us all. I dont post
>often..but I do read the boards daily..and I just feel so bad for us
>all. But at least, for right now, I have some kind of mental peace
>because at least I know what's wrong with me.
>
>I just wanted to share my thoughts and say we are all in this
>together...
>
>--
>Helen from Chicago
>

Hi Helen: There are no rules with adhesions. Some people have them and they don't give them any trouble at all. My surgeon (not gyn) told me that sometimes they do procedures on people and find out they have terrible adhesions and the person never complained. (He also said that they cause some people a lot of pain so he wasn't trying to say that adhesions don't cause pain) Then there are those people who have adhesions, have them lysed, and live happily ever after. Those kind of people don't hang around support forums. They do exist because I know one. I had the adhesions around my sigmoid colon for probably 20 years before they gave me any trouble (and at this point it is debatable if they have given me trouble) and the one that tied my small bowel off for probably 12 years (TAH in 1986. I can't believe this adhesion was not responsible for pain. Yet I had no symptoms of any kind of bowel obstruction before the morning I woke up in pain. ) I don't think adhesions *necessarily* get worse over time. They might in some people. I had a laparoscopy in Mar 1998 when the gyn lysed the small bowel adhesion. I had another lap 6 months later at which time the small bowel adhesion had NOT reoccurred. No barrier at all was used the first time. At this point I have no idea what is wrong with me. Now there is some question whether or not adhesions have even been my problem all along, but as I said, I can't believe that small bowel adhesion was not causing pain. When the problems started 2 years ago every single doctor I saw asked me about my back. I had no back pain,never had back pain, just abdominal pain. Now I have back pain plus the abdominal pain. Is it from the adhesions or is it a new problem on top of the adhesions or the same problem (maybe never an adhesion problem) that is just presenting itself in a different way now? Who knows. I am taking 600 mg ibuprofen every 8 hours and it is working okay, although the pain is not 100% gone. I was discouraged at first but antiinflammatories take a while to kick in. I don't want to take this for the rest of my life without knowing why! Have you check out other forums. I was looking at a neurosurgery forum (now that I have this possible back problem) and it is made up of people just like us, only they are having neurological problems. Doesn't anyone in the world feel good? The same run arounds, misdiagnosis, no diagnosis. It's very discouraging.

Chris S.


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