Mary :)
From: andrea (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sat Dec 29 15:37:24 2007
Thanks for the info, Mary! I really appreciate it! This makes my hope
for surgery better and not as scary. I need positive input right now!
:)
This is what it said on Dr. Cook's page about lasers, so you can ask
about these, when seeing your doctor! :)
There are many types of medical lasers including diode, argon, green
light, eximer, Yag, Neodymium, KTP, Carbon 12 CO2, and Carbon 13 CO2
lasers. The only medical laser that truly cuts and vaporizes
endometriosis during laparoscopy is the Carbon 13 CO2 laser.
A friend of mine on here had surgery with Dr. Cook over the summer and
she now has only a level 1 of pain occasionally she said. Her pain was
so bad, she was on Fentanyl patch! :(
So, there is hope for us and feeling better IS POSSIBLE! It is just a
shame that regular ob's seem to prolong our pain because they don't know
much or seem to help us with a darn thing. Lupron is their answer for
everyone. We have to figure all this out for ourselves.
You are in NY, right? I think if I were there I would try Kanayama. He
is one of the top 10 in the country! He uses the electric scissors like
Redwine and they both have a lot of success stories. I think that
equipment is good too. My doctor told me that the laser can't reach
part of the cul-de-sac, and scissors can - so that is my main concern,
because most of my pain comes from there. (the area between the uterus
and rectum.)
Yes, with all the types of lasers I think endo studies of surgical
success are quite inaccurate, because all doctors use different
equipment, have different levels of experience. And, many women have
already had multiple surgeries with regular ob's by the time they make
it to a specialist. Dr. Cook's page said that most women he operated
on had already had 3-4 surgeries and if they'd started off by just
having his thorough surgery to begin with, the success rates would have
been even higher!
So, we'll see how I turn out, because this is my first and only surgery
to date, and it is with a good specialist with new technology. I will
be looking forward to writing all of you when I am recovering! I will
probably be posting a lot when I'm laid up... I've decided NOT to do
any kind of hysterectomy, just remove the lesions, because I do not have
any pain coming from my uterus, just my ovaries and bowels. I was going
to have my uterus out, because he thinks I have adenomyosis as well, but
I just want the painful areas removed. I don't think I want kids, but I
do not want to disrupt my endocrine system either, unless totally
necessary. I told him if it is just a big blob of a mess in there that
I will have a hyst, but if not, to try and preserve everything.
Hope you have a happy new year as well and find a recovery solution in
2008! Talk to you soon. :)
--
Andrea
At Sat, 29 Dec 2007, Mary wrote:
>
>The DaVinci Robot allows the surgeon more mobility than before. My RE
>said it is like you have your hands in an open wound(laparatomy) -
>however, it is laprascopic surgery. Apparently, this mobility allows
>the surgeon access to areas they would have difficulty getting to
>otherwise. It also has the added benefit of less bleeding and faster
>surgery time. The recovery post-lap is supposed to be much quicker
>also. It is ground breaking technology - and I can see the appeal. My
>RE told me it would allow for hope and surgery on women like myself who
>have stage 4 endo that many would consider inoperable. I spoke with him
>about it at length, that it why I am so informed. It is nice to have a
>doctor who will spend time explaining things to you!
>
>Wishing everyone pain free days and a happy and HEALTHY new year!!
>
>--
>Mary
>At Fri, 28 Dec 2007, anonymous wrote:
>>
>>dr robbins at endoexcision.com knows a lot, try e-mailing him
>>
>>i think a doctor in nyc does robotic surgery - but why do you care about
>>the time being cut in half, why not care about accuracy?
>>
>>and NO hyst of ANY kind is going to get rid of endo problems!!!!
>>
>>you need the endo excised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>
>>At Fri, 28 Dec 2007, andrea wrote:
>>>
>>>I read for hours the other night and found that there are 9 different
>>>types of lasers for operating on Endo!! So we not only need to find the
>>>right doctor, but need to make sure they use the best kind of
>>>laser/equipment!
>>>
>>>I read that the Carbon 13 CO2 laser is the best, most accurate beam of
>>>light and that is the one they use at Dr. Cook's in California. It did
>>>not say which type of laser they use at the CEC. It is a Carbon CO2
>>>laser, but they did not say whether it was the 13 or not. (The Carbon
>>>12 is not as sharp a beam and can leave charring of tissue and carbon
>>>deposits behind in the abdomen as well as other lasers, which can
>>>irritate the tissue. That's why many women may still have pain after a
>>>lap surgery!
>>>
>>>We have to check about these lasers, ladies!!!
>>>
>>>My doctor uses something called a TAUT laser and I'm not sure if it is
>>>Carbon 13 or not. I have to ask him before surgery. He also uses the
>>>DaVinci Robot during surgery. Maybe everything he has is the newest
>>>technology? No other specialist uses the TAUT, so I have to find out the
>>>details on it. I guess depending on what kind of laser they use, it
>>>reacts to the CO2 gas they pump into you, so they can see. The laser
>>>reacts with the gas in your abdomen to create a certain strength of beam
>>>of light.
>>>
>>>At Fri, 28 Dec 2007, Marci wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Hello ladies!
>>>>First of all I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to respond to
>>>>my recent posts and that also emailed me directly. It's nice knowing
>>>>that there are women to talk to that truly care! Okay, here it goes...I
>>>>AM NOT GOING TO TAKE LUPRON...FINAL DECISION. After recieving advice
>>>>from this forum, doing my own research, visiting other forums
>>>>(hystersisters do not all claim positive things about lupron), and
>>>>talking to a couple of my relatives that I never knew took Lupron I
>>>>really don't think it's the right choice for me. This is not to say
>>>>that it does not work for some, because it just might...I don't know and
>>>>don't claim to know. I am a pretty level headed person and really don't
>>>>like to shoot anything down untill I have done my research. Lupron is
>>>>old news and the doctor that is pushing it on me is old news! I'm once
>>>>again going to look for a new doctor. Sigh.
>>>>Thinking about a partial hysterectomy to stop the endo from continuing
>>>>to pile up. I know it wont remove what is already there, but I just
>>>>want this violent cycle to stop before I go crazy! Have any of you heard
>>>>of the Da Vinci Robotic suregery? It's a robot that perfoms the
>>>>operation and the recovery time is cut in half! I have read and heard
>>>>really good things about it! The only problem is they are in all states
>>>>except 3, and I happen to live in one of those three ( New Mexico).
>>>>Anyways, let me know what you think...I'm sure you all will :)
>>>>
>>>>Thanks Again,
>>>>MARCI
>
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