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ATWT Discussion Group
If you think Carly's misdiagnosed brain tumor was bizarre...I have been going through something equally bizarre and need help. I am now facing my third surgery within eight months!
It all started simply enough...on June 18, I woke up with abdominal pains. I thought it was my incisional hernia acting up. I went to the emergency room...12 hours later, I found out that not only did I not have a hernia, but I was going in for an appendectomy. Sounds simple, doesn't it? I had my procedure the same week that Talk Show host Jimmy Kimmel had his. The only thing is, my appendectomy wound has not healed! My original surgeon put me through a whole host of treatments, including a wound-vac machine, and for three office visits in a row, when I got on the examining table, without any warning, the surgeon would take out his scalpel and start poking and prodding in order to 'facilitate the drainage.' Well, after four months, it was finally revealed that my appendectomy wound was not healing because it had ruptured and infected my hernia mesh. To add insult to injury, my hernia mesh is the subject of a major recall, but I cannot participate in it due to the statute of limitations. My hernia mesh was implanted 5 years ago, and the statute of limitations calls for 2 years. The surgeon threw up his hands, gave up on me, and gave me to another surgeon at another hospital. When I had my first visit with the second surgeon, I was told that I needed to have my hernia mesh repaired/replaced and my whole abdominal wall reconstructed. A very big undertaking, to say the least. But, lo and behold, two weeks later, he opts to schedule me for an hour long ambulatory procedure to open and drain my wound, and monitor it from there. In the meantime, I was out of work for 14 weeks out of the last 26 weeks of the year, lost a part-time job over it, and am now on the verge of losing my full-time job. I am now scheduled for the BIGGIE procedure next week. I am not a vindictive person, but I have consulted a lawyer about pursuing a possible medical malpractice/negligence lawsuit. I am at my wit's end. Exhausted, both physically and emotionally. My wife, who is 25 years my senior, is a Home Health Aide and has been changing my dressings two, three times a day.
It really is ironic, but the week of my appendectomy surgery, Cady McClain was starting taping at the ATWT Brooklyn studios, and now, with this third surgery, it is coinciding with the departures of Jennifer Landon and Will Soffer.
If I were to tell my story to 'Judge Judy' and tell her that my life has been turned upside down due to an appendectomy, she'd respond by saying: "What drugs are you on, kiddo?"
But, as bizarre as Carly's misdiagnosed brain tumor storyline, mine is equally as strange...including the hernia mesh being the subject of a major recall. So, does anyone have any advice for me? I am losing my mind over this, between the drainage, pain etc...
YES! Try some Solaray, beta glucans, 200 mg. They're not very expensive. Start out with one, and just empty most of the capsule, to be sure you're okay with it. (So far everyone I know has been, but I'm just really cautious!) If you do okay, the next day take half a capsule. If you're still okay, the next day, take a whole capsule. Take one for a week or so, then work up to two capsules a day; morning and evening. Some beta glucans is from the cell wall of yeast, and some from oats. Just be sure you're not allergic to either of them. That stuff is just WONDERFUL for your immune system. Also, remember! Your body is doing its durndest to fight this infection. Try to make sure you're not sick in any other way. Additional surgeries or anything are going to tear you up. Your body takes a HUGE beating in any surgery, and yours is really fighting to recover. You have to be sure you're doing everything possible to build your body and immune system up, and not cause it any additional trauma.
Make sure you're taking some really good vitamins. And make sure there's no iron in the formula, as the iron and the Vitamin E cancel each other out. Make sure you take fat when you take them, or the D, E and A/beta carotene won't be absorbed. I'd suggest 800 units a day of a really good Vitamin E (natural, NOT lab made), as Vit. E is really good against infection and for healing.
Is the wound healed inside, and just not on the outside? Or is it not healed in either place?
I don't know much about the colloidal silver myself, but I have read really great things about it. Might be worth investigating. Make sure you're getting about 50 or 60 mgs of zinc a day, because that is really good for wound healing and infection also. Just don't take too much of the zinc, as it can make you sick if you do. 60 mgs. should be fine. Actually, you might be okay taking more if your body is really in need of it, but I wouldn't try that unless I knew for sure.
There are also many herbs that are good for infections, and for building the immune system. Let me know if you're interested, and I'll look some up for you. Goldenseal is my favorite, but I can't take it anymore since I've gotten high blood pressure. But that stuff is da bomb!!!!
WHOOPS!!! Can't believe I forgot Vitamin C! I'd get a good easy for you to swallow kind that's about 500 mgs, and take one every couple hours for most of the day. They only stay in your system a little while, which is why you have to keep taking it. I like the Super C-500 complex that Puritan's Pride sells (www.puritan.com). They are not expensive. The complex also has bioflavonoids (added bonus)! Vitamin C is very crucial for fighting infections, and your body needs a good deal of it.
I would see if anyone in your area does Quantum Touch. If you can find someone, have them run energy into it for you. Your body uses the energy however it needs to the most, and will know right where to send the energy to do the most good for you. If there is no one in your area, or you can't afford it, go to the message board at www.quantumtouch.com Go to the healing request section, and put a thread up. People will run distance energy for you. It's really better in person though, if you can find someone to do it for you.
Also, if you want me to run some energy for you, let me know, and I'll try it.
The reason I asked about the wound, is you have to be sure that the outside doesn't heal up before the inside does; especially if there's any infection present. I think it's really easier just getting the outside to heal, cuz you can put stuff on it topically that works on it. But if it's not healed on the inside, it just seals the infection in and makes it worse.
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I thought of the diabetes as well but I'm sure your doctors have tested and retested you for that. It's not uncommon for some people to have trouble healing from a surgical wound. I had a sister in law who took forever to heal after having her gall bladder removed. No diabetes, and she was an otherwise healthy mom in her mid-30s. A neighbor of mine got absesses after a c-section and had trouble healing as well. Some people just heal better than others and for all you know, the doctors didn't scrub as well - or something else affected your healing process.
Maybe you should seek out a lawyer; one of the kinds that looks into it and if he/she thinks you don't have a case, then they don't charge.
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