Re: Bowel Resection after endo..
From: anonymous@obgyn.net
Mon Jul 4 15:55:12 2005
Hi ladies,
Add me to the list of bowel endo and resections. I went to see Dr
Redwine for a consult early in June, after doing a pelvic exam he felt
that Adenomyosis was causing my pain rather than Endo. I had a prior
lap this past October where the surgeon did find Endo on my left ovary
(as well as a small endometrioma), small bits scattered on areas I
couldn't identify (I got a video) and two large lesions on my colon. All
of these areas he lasered, however I got no relief with the exception of
the left sided pain.. that went away.
Anyway, Dr Redwine was fairly confident that I had Adenomyosis since
when he pressed on or moved my uterus, it caused me pain. I asked about
my video.. I did mail it ahead of time. He said he did watch it and it
did appear that I also had Endo but he didn't feel that was the cause of
my abdominal pain. I asked him about the bowel endo, he said that could
also be caused by Adenomyosis since the colon is right next to the
uterus and bowel movements going through the colon could irritate the
uterus. He also said it could be from Endo but we wouldn't know until
he got in. The only cure for Adenomyosis is a hysterectomy so I said go
for it.. I'm done having children and can't live with this much pain.
On June 21st he did a laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy and
took both ovaries as well (my choice..I didn't want to deal with endo
complications or the hormone related migraines any longer). He also
repaired a rear vaginal prolapse called a rectocele repair and did a
partial bowel resection on my sigmoid colon. There was a chunk of Endo
the size of his thumb (penetrating through) that even the first surgeon
didn't see. Even with that finding, he still said he didn't think that
was the cause of most of my pain so we're guessing it was Adenomyosis.
So far I feel pretty good...I was able to walk fairly well in the
hospital and had an appt with my local doctor 6 days post op. The nurse
said she was amazed at how well I was getting around considering what I
had done! The most painful part was the rectocele repair.. my arse felt
like it was ON FIRE for 3 days after. Good thing I was in the hospital
for 3 nights.. I had a PCA (push button connected to an IV) with a high
dosage of Diluadid so I was OK.
I still can't say whether I'm 100% "cured" or not.. I'm 13 days post op
today and still feel a ghost of the old pain. But, I'm in no way fully
healed yet so I'm not ready to open the flood gates yet. I do have a
sinking feeling that I may still have some unresolved bowel issues but
am confident that the hysterectomy will take away most, if not all of
the pain.
A few of you asked about the symptoms of bowel endo; this is what I
had...
1. Pain shortly before having a bowel movement (at times it felt like I
had a sharp rock moving through my intestine)
2. Pain that would sometimes last hours after a bowel movement
3. Occasional bleeding with bowel movements (but never bleeding w/o a
BM)
4. Pain shortly after eating
5. Lots of pain with gas.. it would drop me to my knees sometimes
Basically I had pain whenever my bowels were active, whether it be
passing gas or stools. It got worse at certain times of the month.. at
ovulation or in the days leading up to my period. There are quite a few
very informative articles regarding bowel endometriosis online, just
head to Google and do a search. I wish you all the best of luck.. the
one piece of advice I would offer is never have bowel endo lasered off.
It only made mine worse. Go see an experienced endo specialist...one
who excises the endo. I had to take a loan out against my car to see Dr
Redwine but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I talked to many people
who saw him before I went and he changed their lives.
Hugs,
Angie
t Thu, 30 Jun 2005, britt wrote:
>
>Hi girls,
>I too, had bowel trouble due to Endometriosis. In October, I had a
>ruptured chocolate cyst which burst near my appendix and I had emergency
>surgery to remove the cyst and also my appendix, and to clean up as much
>of the Endo as they could. A month later in November, I had another
>ruptured cyst and surgery to clean it up, and to separate my ovaries
>which had fused together. At this time, my surgeon noticed that I had
>adhesions wrapped around my lower bowel that was strangling it. For
>months beforehand, I had suffered from severe nausea, constipation, and
>inability to eat. I lost a lot of weight and everyone, my family and
>friends, and myself, were scared about how thin I was getting. I too,
>felt like I was dying. Before they discovered the endo adhesions on my
>bowels, I had different doctors tell me that I had IBS, stress, and acid
>reflux, so I thank god that my surgeon discovered the true cause of what
>was wrong with me. I was scheduled for a Laparotomy surgery in March,
>in which they opened up my abdomen like a c-section to repair the bowel
>damage. However, before I could go through with the surgery, my doctor
>had me see a GI specialist for a Sigmoidoscopy just to make sure I had
>nothing else wrong. That test came out fine. Also, two months before
>my scheduled surgery in March my doctor put me on Femara, an aromatase
>inhibitor that helps block the production of Estrogen. Femara is a
>breast cancer drug that is newly being tried on Endo sufferers because
>studies have shown that it can help prevent regrowth of endo and can
>even help to shrink some existing endo lesions. When my doctor opened
>me up in March to repair my bowels, he said he was pleased to see that
>the Femara seemed to work because I had no regrowth that he could see.
>Each time before I was on the medication, my endo had come back very
>quickly. Anyway, thankfully he was able to peel the lesions off my
>bowel and didn't have to do a resection. I spent 4 days in the hospital
>in terrible pain and then 6 weeks of recovery at home. I am still doing
>ok but occasionally still have nausea and constipation. I am not really
>sure how things will end up further down the road, there's always the
>possibility it will happen again and would require more surgery. I hate
>that possibility more than anything else, and am really scared and
>depressed sometimes. Anyway just wanted to let you know that I know
>what you all are going through. Take care, bless you all.
>-- Britt
>
>At Wed, 29 Jun 2005, amy wrote:
>>
>>My heart goes out to you both. Could you please tell me what your
>>symptoms were that led to the diagnosis of the endo and your intestines?
>>I have been dealing with horrible pain for years and years and was
>>finally diaganosed with endo last year. However, during two laps i was
>>told that a portion of my small intestine was enlarged and swollen due
>>to my crohn's disease and that it had adhered to my ligaments. My
>>problem is then why does it only flair up at the time my period is
>>supposed to start and then last from one to two or more weeks? I also go
>>through period of rectal blood loss and had to have blood transfusions
>>last year because of it. I am in so much pain and I can't find anyone
>>that will help me, they always refer me to someone else. I am at a
>>loss. Just thought I would find out more about your condition.
>>Thanks so much.
>>
>>At Wed, 29 Jun 2005, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>>>
>>>At Tue, 28 Jun 2005, Shannon wrote:
>>>>
>>>>I know this is kinda gross, but has anyone here had a bowel resection
>>>>due to endo. and then a month later had severe rectal bleeding? Any
>>>>support would be great! This recovery process has been so hard. I have
>>>>been really sick lately b/c of the bowel rescection surgery last month.
>>>>It's miserable and I am scared b/c I am bleeding so much. I have never
>>>>had this before. God bless you all!!
>>>>
>>>>--
>>>>Shannon
>>>
>>>Sorry to hear about your suffering. I had a small bowel resection in
>>>june of 2003, just a month after surgery was done to remove endometrisis
>>>adhesions. They missed one and it strangled my intestine, I was in the
>>>hospital for three weeks, they removed 9cm of small intestine. My
>>>recovery was long, and I still have a horrible scar up the middle of my
>>>stomach, but not until about four months ago did my pain come back. I
>>>start LUPRON next week, am a little scared of the side effects, but I
>>>can't go through surgery again. The bleeding you're experiencing sounds
>>>horrible, what has your doctor told you? I am sorry again, hope you feel
>>>better!!!!
>>>>
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