Any advice on what to do about Adhesions?

15 years 6 months ago #21407 by Patricia
Replied by Patricia on topic Any advice on what to do about Adhesions?
Lots of homework!......the #1 and #2 urological hospitals in the US are Johns Hopkins and The Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Gill at the time..now this was over 5 l/2 yrs ago was the only person in the US to do RC laproscopically......plus he was head of the transplant division. He's now also head of Urology. I have found that most of the top docs all know one another..like i said O'Donnnel is one one of them at U of Iowa.....Anyone who performs 60 to 90 RC's a year is going to know about adhesions. Here's a paper i pulled up on it...interesting that a great percentage of post pelvic pain is actually due to adhesions
www.seprafilm.com/patients/faq.asp
Pat

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

15 years 6 months ago #21405 by ICBadger50
Replied by ICBadger50 on topic Any advice on what to do about Adhesions?
Thanks, Patricia. How did you know he was a top rated doctor for this kind of problem?

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

15 years 6 months ago #21401 by Patricia
Replied by Patricia on topic Any advice on what to do about Adhesions?
Badger...you've got a top rated doc at U of Iowa in Dr. O'Donnell
www.uihealthcare.com/depts/med/urology/urologymds/odonnell.html
I don't know if he was your origial surgeon or not but i would trust his opinion.
I had small bowel obstruction about 9 days out of my RC...my ureter actually trapped a piece of my small bowell....very unusual ..they had never seen that before. My surgery initially was done laproscopically at The Cleveland Clinic by Dr. Inderbir Gill who happens to be the only one doing RC laproscopically..when i had the obstruction i asked if they could just go in and release the bowel laproscopically and apparently thats not always possible...it can start that way but may end up with the full cut...which mine did. Also Dr. Gill just happened to be in Hawaii at a conference and he's the main laproscopic man in the field. They removed lots of scar tissue at that time which surprised me that it could form so quickly. I'll never know if Dr. Gill was available if i would have had an easier time of it...my guess is yes.
Good luck with the second opinion..........Pat

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

15 years 6 months ago #21399 by ICBadger50
Replied by ICBadger50 on topic Any advice on what to do about Adhesions?
Rosemary--Commiseration is appreciated. Perhaps someone who's been through scar tissue/adhesion removal will offer us insights.

Harleygirl--yes, the research shows that surgery can lead to more scarring/adhesions. What I don't know is how long in between bouts, so to speak, and whether laproscopic surgery indeed lowers the chances of reoccurence. Hopefully someone here will be able to share their experience.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

15 years 6 months ago #21398 by harleygirl
Replied by harleygirl on topic Any advice on what to do about Adhesions?
I don't mean to seem dense here, but aren't adhesions scar tissue and if you are prone to get them, won't new ones form if you have surgery to remove the current ones? It seems like a catch-22 situation.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

15 years 6 months ago #21395 by Rosemary
Replied by Rosemary on topic Any advice on what to do about Adhesions?
Hello Badge,

I'm not going to be of great use to you, but at least I can commiserate.
My adhesions have been around about 20 years since my surgery for an ovarian tumor at the age of 37. The Gyno says that my ovary is stuck to my rectum.
At this point, I'm not even sure what's stuck to what though, like you, I am beginning to have the cramps at night in that area. (I've had downright PAIN for these 20 years now.)

When I asked the Gyno if he thought that a hysterectomy was in order, hes said "We can do it, but I can't gurantee that it would solve your problem."

Great. Like you, quality of life is not the best, as my bladder is also involved and causes me to run to the toilet a lot. Not like I even have to mention the pain again:woohoo:

I always feel it. Its' always there. Luckily, I haven't had a bowel obstruction, but I always have pain and frequent urination after a bowel movement. "OUCH"...

I'll be watching this thread with interest....

Rosemary

Rosemary
Age - 55
T1 G3 - Tumor free 2 yrs 3 months
Dx January 2006

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Cynthiaeddieksara.anne