ENDO Messages for April, 2008: Re: Laprotomy

Re: Laprotomy

From: emdometriosis (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon Apr 28 18:23:20 2008

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At Wed, 1 Jun 2005, Chris wrote: >
>Hi, I just have to reply to this question because you are the only
>person who has come so close to being exactly like me. I also have
>stage IV endo. The first surgery I had with my regular GYN was supposed
>to be a simple laparoscopic one to remove a chocolate cyst on my left
>ovary. He did say I might lose the ovary. Well, when he got inside,
>there was so much scarring from the endometriosis that he said he
>couldn't find my organs. He informed my husband and mother that he
>would have to change the surgery to a laparotomy. They gave permission
>thinking that if he says it can't be done laparoscopically, then it just
>can't be done that way. Five hours later I woke up not even knowing
>what happened to me. So, you are lucky you get to make your own
>decision. I didn't even know I had endometriosis before that surgery! I
>believe the adhesion barrier you might be talking about is most likely
>Seprafilm. To make a long story short I spent 4 weeks recovering at
>home and forced myself back to work at that point because I didn't have
>a lot of leave. I still moved slow but I got through it. I mostly sit
>at work, so it was okay. But I could've used two more weeks at home.
>After I finally recovered from that surgery I felt better than I ever
>have in my entire life I think. I had a bunch of food/digestive
>problems before that surgery which all disappeared when I got better. It
>only lasted almost two years though. My periods got worse and worse and
>more painful. Then, suddenly I found myself unable to eat almost
>anything! My doctor refused to do any more surgery on me. He said I'm
>better off to live the way I was living until I couldn't anymore.
>Meaning emergency bowel obstruction. Funny thing is he still denies
>that my endo has anything to do with all my bowel problems (even though
>I have the endo and adhesions all over my bowels). Anyway, I did major
>research and sought out one of the best endometriosis specialists who
>specializes in endo of the bowels and is one of the best laparascopic
>surgeons in the world. And I found something out. It CAN be done
>laparoscopically. It just depends on how bad your situation is and how
>comfortable your doctor is with the laparascope. I wish I knew this
>before my first surgery. Unfortunately, I have now had three more
>surgeries, but they have all been laparoscopic and it is a world of
>difference in recovery and scarring. I also had two bowel resections
>for the endo and they were done laparoscopically too. Bowel resections
>are tough. My endometriosis is way better now. Unfortunately, all the
>organs that were stuck together just keep healing stuck together again.
>So, adhesions have become my secondary disease now and I can still not
>eat very much. One problem with laparoscopic surgery is that there is
>not a good adhesion barrier that can be used with the laparascope in
>liquid form which is approved by the FDA, so you will not have an
>adhesion barrier if you have surgery in the U.S. laparoscopically. But
>on the other hand laparoscopic surgery causes less adhesions than open
>surgery. So, laparascopic vs. open surgery is a personal decision
>everyone has to make for themselves. But anyone who has stage IV endo
>should definitely educate themselves on Adhesion Related Disorder (ARD).
>Something I wish I knew about before my first surgery. I would've went
>for the specialist right from the very beginning and maybe I would be
>better off today. Sounds like you trust your doctor and Seprafilm is a
>much more effective adhesion barrier than they had when I had my first
>surgery, so hopefully it will be more successful than mine was. I had
>Interceed which is suspected of causing more adhesions if the bleeding
>isn't controlled properly. It also sounds like your doctor knows a lot
>about endometriosis since she is doing excision surgery. I think that
>is the way to go. My GYN didn't do excision and is no where near being
>a specialist in endometriosis. I believe this is why my endo came back
>with a vengence. I know I got carried away with my long reply and gave
>you some info you didn't ask for. I hope you don't mind that I included
>all that stuff about laparascopic vs. open surgery. I just wanted to
>share my experience with you since you have very much the same situation
>I started off with four years ago. Please feel free to write to me if
>you want to talk off the the board.
>
>--
>Chris
>
>At Wed, 1 Jun 2005, Weebs wrote:
>>
>>I have stage IV endo with my bowels, left ovary (w/ choc cyst inside),
>>left tube, left urine tube, all the area behind my vagina stuck together
>>like one big blob of endo. When they went in for diagnosis (and removed
>>the small amount on my right side) during laproscopy, they had a hard
>>time even seeing my organs. I'm due for a full laprotomy on 6/27 to
>>remove all endo, possibly remove my left ovary (which causes me the MOST
>>pain), possible bowel resection, and to wrap my uterous, tubes and
>>ovaries in some sort of cloth like substance (I can't remember the name
>>of the stuff, but it is supposed to minimize scarring).
>>
>>Anyways, my question is...
>>
>>If anyone here has had a laprotomy? How long was the recovery time for
>>an operation such as this (my doc says 4-6 weeks ..I'm a fast healer)?
>>Has anyone heard of or had the cloth thing done?
>>
>>I'm not here looking for advice. I posted a similar question to another
>>endo forum and the only two responses I got were from women who told me
>>I should be seeing another doctor. I love my doctor and I trust her
>>100%. She is very informative about endo and has done quite a few
>>sucessful excision surgeries.
>

-- Please tell me more about how you found a doctor knowledgeable enough about endometriosis. I am on my third doctor now, one i met today is associated with a prestigious hospital in Boston. But what i am learning from this site is much more than anyone ever told me. My doctors diagnosed me with endometriosis in the year 2000. Eversince they have been treating me with Hormones. "Lupron" etc. My condition improves when i am on it and then it returns. I have symptoms very similar to yours.I am now scheduled for a laprotomy. My doctor did not talk about adhesion barrier.

I am past 40 yrs now. I have been considering removing my "Uterus". What is your opinion on that? Can women still produce estrogen with their uterus removed but ovaries intact?

This will be my first surgery after enduring the pain and bowel problems for eight years. Please share with me whatever you know.

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