This is my first posting to the list so please excuse its length. I
have had a total of 6 belly surgeries (4 laporoscopies, 2 laporatomies).
I had the last laporatomy in 1997 and was told that I had extensive
adhesions. A few weeks ago I had another laparoscopy due to extreme
pain and was told that I had pelvic adhesions again as well as adhesions
covering my liver and gall bladder. My primary physician told me that
she thought that I needed a general surgeon instead of letting my gyn
(who did the laparoscopy) do the surgery. I have now consulted with a
surgeon who thinks that surgery for adhesions is a bad idea unless I
have a bowel obstruction. She also said that adhesions covering the
liver is a symptom of gall bladder problems; necessarily gallstones but
some other type of problem. Because I have spent the last 18 months
going from doctor to doctor, having test after test done, being treated
as if I'm nuts when all the tests come out positive, I'm not very
hopeful that this doctor will find anything different and so I've given
her a timeframe to find the problem or to go in and look. Basically,
I've told her that she needs to have an answer for me by Christmas. I
am just now realizing that apparently for me the adhesions will not go
away and so I'm exploring other options to treating them. I would still
like to have the surgery to remove them but I have four questions: 1.
How successful is pain management therapy; 2. Can anyone recommend a
surgeon in the Maryland/Washington, D.C. area; 3. Is there a referring
organization for surgeons in my area; and 4. Am I being unreasonable in
expecting an answer to exactly what my problem is by Christmas?