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Post by Marissa on May 23, 2006 20:22:19 GMT -5
I am having a laproscopy and an endometrial ablation done again.... I got my navel pierced about four months after my surgery (1st surgery was a year ago). I have this lump under my piercing that sometimes seeps fluid although recently it has started healing up, but I was wondering if they would still do surgery if is does not completely heal.
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Post by ouchy on May 23, 2006 21:04:10 GMT -5
Hi, Marissa. Might be wise to call your doctor's office and tell him that you have a navel infection and find out what he recommends. He will probably either want to see it or have you remove the ring, depending upon how far out your surgery is scheduled. You might be able to heal it w/ alcohol or neosporin or something nightly.
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Post by ouchy on Jun 4, 2006 15:56:57 GMT -5
I thought it would be a good idea to compile things from different women--what to ask your doc before having a lap.
From my experience, it is a good idea to ask the doc what he/she plans to do to endo if it is found. What organs you are okay with having removed, if any, and what organs you definitely won't give up.
During my first lap, I wrote on the consent form, "Absolutely NO reproductive organs are to be removed!" My doctor wound up finding my appendix covered in endo. When I came-to, my doc told me that he debated on whether or not to just remove my appendix, but that he decided to just burn the endo and leave it. I think he was scared about removing any organ, even though the appendix is definitely not a reproductive organ. Over the year or so following my first lap, I began to have more pain in my lower right abdominal quadrant. I talked to the doc, and we decided that it would be best to schedule another lap and to also have another surgeon remove my appendix at that time. However, my appendix by that time had become covered in endo again and had flipped up and backwards and had become adhered to my cecum (part of intestine right above the appendix). It was so glued to the cecum that I almost had to be cut open for a surgery, instead of just having it removed laparoscopically. Had my doc felt comfortable with removing my appendix in the first place, I probably would not have had endometriosis remnants on my intestines on my right side to cause it to glue to the cecum--because it would have just been removed. Hower, now I will probably wind up having to keep having it burned off of my intestines on my lower right-side.
Anyway, it is just a good idea to discuss things like that, so that future surgeries may be avoided and a "surgical plan-of-attack" may be created.
Please add other advice. I really wish there would have been a form like this when I just started going through the diagnostic procedure!
***OH! Also make sure you have a skilled surgeon who is comfortable in burning/removing intestinal endometriosis. Some doctors are not comfortable on operating on the intestines, and so then you'll just have to have another surgery with a more skilled doctor/surgeon.
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Post by erzulie on Jun 4, 2006 18:32:09 GMT -5
Yeah, you should ask your doctor if they will definitely remove it all and what would make her/him not remove some. It's also a good idea to know how many incisions you are going to have and how big, and to discuss what will happen if the surgery can't be done with a laparoscopy (there are various reasons why it might not work out). My doctor said that if she ended up having to do a fully laparotomy that she would wake me up and tell me. Some doctors, however, will just go ahead and do it which would be a nasty surprise. You might also want to ask about what will be used during the surgery. Most surgeons use a lot of PVC products. After your surgery it is all incinerated, which produces dioxin which is then breathed in by unsuspecting people (including yourself). Dioxin can cause/worsen cramps even in people who don't have endometriosis (so imagine what it does to people who do), and studies have shown that dioxin exposure often leads to the spontaneous development of endometriosis in animals, implying that it does so in people too. It seems kind of ironic that you can go in to have surgery to alleviate your symptoms, and then the tubing and stuff that was used in your surgery creates pollution that makes your disease worse again. There are alternatives to PVC, and you can request that the hospital use these alternatives, but you have to ask in advance so they have time to order them. My general feeling is that if you request this, the doctor will most likely laugh at you for being so paranoid and then use PVC products anyway, but it doesn't hurt to try.
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Post by ouchy on Jun 4, 2006 22:02:56 GMT -5
Also ask the doctor how many laps he performs on average per month and of those about how many women he finds w/ endo. My doctor looked me in the eye and told me he finds about 1 in 4 women w/ endo out of the surgeries her performs a month. If the doctor isn't familiar enough with his own stats, be wary!
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meka
Full Member
Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jun 12, 2006 0:36:33 GMT -5
It was a good idea to make this thread. I hope that more people with laparoscopy experience share their questions. I have a long list, but there's probably more I haven't thought about. Here are some additional general questions I'll be asking when I meet with my new gnyo this week.
What is your laparoscopy experience? How often do you perform laps for endo? How often are you able to “get it all during the procedure?” Is it frequent that some endo has to be left in? Under what conditions? What can you tell me about excision surgery as opposed to laser? What method(s) do you use? What internal conditions indicate a need for laparoscopy vs. laparotomy? When is it best to have the procedure done? Before, during, or after my period? Is it possible to receive a copy of your notes, reports, ultrasound, pictures, etc.? I need to call my insurance provider before hand to find out my rights in regards to this.What do you expect my recovery time to be?
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Post by ouchy on Jun 12, 2006 0:38:10 GMT -5
Definitely on the right track!!!!! Gosh, I soooo wish this website would have been around during my first lap!!
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meka
Full Member
Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jun 19, 2006 0:37:13 GMT -5
About being able to look at my records, I found out that it is the law for patients to have access to their own records: viewing and/or getting copies, unless seeing those records would be detrimental to the patient (i.e. my sister's psychiatrist wouldn't let her see her records or tell her exactly what mental condition she has, since as a nurse and hypochondriac she would become obessed with what she thinks her symptoms should be).
Anyway, this is California law. I'm not sure about other states/federal or other countries.
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meka
Full Member
Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jul 29, 2006 13:58:46 GMT -5
On my last doctor visit, I wanted him to be prepared for the deluge of questions that I had. So I typed them all out and gave him a copy ahead of time. When he came in to examine me, he didn't seem at all bothered. After he examined me, we went to his office and he sat with me, each of us with the list of questions. He answered every single one of them from top to bottom, with as much detail as I needed.
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Post by Hillary on Jul 29, 2006 15:30:45 GMT -5
I glad that you mentioned that i never knew that you could have a copy of your records until my specialist just gave me a copy, i was kinda shocked. Cause when your in the doctors office and he is telling you everything once he say the word endo or in my case cancer thats all i hear, so when i left and gathered my thoughts i read it and was able to put everything together.
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Post by ouchy on Aug 7, 2006 0:57:12 GMT -5
Also ask whether or not your doctor/doctors who will be performing the surgery/surgeries have other patients lined up that day both before and after your scheduled surgery/surgeries.
Also make sure that if you are having more than one surgeon perform an operation that day that BOTH doctors sit down together with you at the same time and coordinate the surgery!!! I wound up in a pickle because of this!
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Post by ouchy on Aug 10, 2006 0:04:17 GMT -5
From what was posted the other day, it would probably also be a good idea to ask whether or not your surgeon intends to do any nerve severing...
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Post by akcheryl on Nov 12, 2006 20:04:12 GMT -5
I have an appointment with my surgeon in two days. Here's a list of questions I've typed up so far: - How many laparoscopies do you perform each week?
- How many laparotomies?
- What percentage of your patients have endometriosis?
- How much experience do you have with surgically removing endometriosis?
- What is your experience in working with patients endometriosis-caused infertility?
- Do you know what percentage of your “infertile” endometriosis patients go on to have successful pregnancies after surgery?
- How do you remove ovarian endometriomas? Do you remove them whole, or do you drain them and then remove the tissue? (I do NOT want them just drained and have the tissue left. I would prefer complete excision.)
- How will you ensure that the cysts are not cancerous?
- How will you deal with any other endometriosis on my bladder, cul-de-sac, intestines, bowels, etc.? Will you try to remove as much endometriosis as possible? Under what circumstances would you leave some endometriosis instead of removing it all?
- At what point would you decide to switch to a laparotomy?
- What would you do if you find that I have endometriosis on my appendix, for example?
- Will you check if my fallopian tubes are open? If so, how do you do that?
- If you find that either (or both) of my fallopian tubes are blocked, will you do anything to open them up? If so, what do you do?
- I’ve suffered from sciatica since about May and have read that it can be caused by endometriosis on the sciatic nerve. Will you check for endometriosis on the sciatic nerve? If you find it there, how will you deal with it?
- How long after a laparoscopy can I:
a. Go back to work? b. Travel? c. Have sex? d. Try to get pregnant? e. Exercise?
- How long after a laparotomy can I:
a. Go back to work? b. Travel? c. Have sex? d. Try to get pregnant? e. Exercise?
- I’ve read that women tend to have vaginal bleeding after surgery. What effect will surgery have on my period?
- In the case of a laparoscopy, how many incisions will you make? How big will they be? Will you use dissolvable stitches?
- In the case of a laparotomy, how big of an incision will be made? Where will it be located?
- Will you close any incisions so that there is minimal scarring (or will there be a plastic surgeon in the operating room to close the incisions)?
- What will I have to do to prepare for surgery? Will I be given an enema?
- Will I have a catheter in during surgery? If so, will it still be in when I wake up, or is it taken out before I go into recovery?
- When will I find out the outcome of surgery, including what stage (1-4) of endometriosis I have (if, in fact, that is what I have)? (Also, my parents are in Alaska – Are you willing to speak to them over the phone or to write them a letter concerning the outcome?)
- What will be your plan of action if you think that I have something besides endometriosis, such as ovarian cancer?
- Will you videotape the surgery? Take pictures? If so, can I get copies for both myself and for my regular GP?
- What will you do to try to save my ovaries? At what point would you decide to remove an ovary? (In the case of endometriosis, removal of one ovary is okay, but not both. I would only allow both to be taken in the case of ovarian cancer.)
Any others you can think of?
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Post by ouchy on Nov 12, 2006 21:46:48 GMT -5
^Ask if he intends to sever any nerves. Some docs do that to reduce pain. May or may not be something you want done.
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Post by SarahW on Nov 16, 2006 20:32:16 GMT -5
Yes, I totally agree to ask about severing nerves. I had a laproscopy 2 weeks ago and I am still having nerve trouble. Mine wasn't severed or anything like that but swelling around the nerve in my abdomen has caused my right thigh to be completely numb for the past 2 weeks. It is a VERY uncomfortable feeling. Fortunately the feeling is SLOWLY coming back. Just wanted to add that.
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