How Surgeons Can Help You Navigate the Colorectal Treatment Maze
Discussion around Pelvic floor dysfunction and its consequences has suffered from the elephant in the living room syndrome for far too long.
Today’s interviews with Dr Lim Jit Fong and Dr Francis Seow Choen have broader reach to anyone interested in their healthcare. In the last session of the show you will hear part of an interview with Dr Seow Choen. The rest of this highly informative interview will be featured in next weeks show….Don’t miss it!
We all have a pelvic floor and when something goes awry with it – it can create horrendous physical suffering, social isolation and psychological trauma. You won’t hear this discussed very often because it is an area that suffers from the stigma of Silence! We tend to only think about pelvic floor issues in women – but men can have just as many issues with their pelvic floor. Yes – I can’t say it too many times – I have a mission to break the silence that surrounds pelvic floor issues. If my problems had early intervention, my life would have been very different. So I figure we should all use what we have been given in life as teaching stories to educate and help others to access good information and therefore make informed choices to improve health and life!
The interviews you will hear on navigating the cancer maze radio today were recorded live in Singapore whilst here for surgical procedure # 22! The majority of those surgeries were performed prior to my undergoing interstim treatment; first in the Netherlands with Dr Rudd Schouten and pelvic floor specialist Marijke Sleiker ten Hove – this was in 2002, 2003. I was the “first” at that time for Medtronic interstim to work for my condition. It was verified that innervation to my rectum had been grossly disturbed during a routine surgery in 1997, making bowel function impossible; faecal impaction followed and colon was removed whilst the cause – nerve damage; remained.
Although the surgeons who performed procedures saved my life several times; for which I am grateful, I remained frustrated because the caused was continually bypassed and my issue became shrouded in Silence. I began to to study sacral nerve function and the pelvic floor. I was told it was impossible that any form of restoration existed! The longer my problem existed the worse it got so by the time I found a possible solution with interstim; I had a lot of internal and external damage, hernias from “bags”, burns from ileostomies, further proplapses in my already damaged pelvic floor. Life quality became far too compromised Now 2 devices replaced – one in 2009 and now another in 2014 – both performed in Singapore with the surgeons I interview today. Guess what – the procedure is till off label around the world for my condition!! It is available but you need to find those skilled in this area and you need to pay for it. – no insurance. But what is a life worth I keep asking myself? In Singapore I felt understood and listened to as I had been in with my first Dutch Surgeons – when my procedure was purely an experiment. Now, to Singapore……
Dr. Lim is very passionate about improving the quality of his patients’ care. In caring for his patients, Dr. Lim has always maintained a steadfast principle, “Make decisions for your patients as if they are your loved ones. If your decision is not good enough for your loved one, it is not good enough for your patient.” For his dedication toward patient care, he has received numerous awards for excellence in patient care through the years. When I read this I knew I was in the right hands.
“Improving patient care is not from the service aspect alone but also involves improving the quality of care through research and educating a new generation of doctors” says Dr Lim. Dr. Lim has authored numerous scientific research articles in various colorectal surgery topics and these have been published in various peer-reviewed medical journals worldwide.
CLICK HERE To read more about Dr Lim Jit Fong
CLICK HERE To read more about Dr Francis Seow Choen
For more information about procedures for incontinence for bladder and bowel or to inquire about any colon issues including constipation and feacle obstructive syndromes: Please inquire via the contact page at http://www.fortissurgicalhospital.com
Next week on Navigating the Cancer Maze – more from Dr Francis Seow Choen
Listen to audio interview at:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/80808/how-surgeons-can-help-you-navigate-the-colorectal-treatment-maze
