-
Having my mesh removed Friday
Hello everyone and thanks for reading my post.
This Friday, 11/15 I am having my mesh removed by Dr. Belyansky in at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. Since having my mesh put inside me in May 2018 I have been having problems with chronic pain and foreign body sensation (link to my original post https://www.herniatalk.com/11388-my-mesh-story-and-questions-about-removal). Since then I have visited with my PCP and five surgeons, including the implanting surgeon, and Dr Belyansky. Many doctors seemed dismissive of my case or told me that the pain would disappear with time, but Dr. Belyansky seemed to think that the mesh was the problem after I had finished telling him what I was feeling. When I visited with him in August of this year he ordered a CT scan and when that was returned, he said the mesh was clearly placed around my spermatic cord and would need to be removed, with the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve as it was likely trapped in the mesh and causing me pain. Thus far my experience with Dr Belyansky has been the best out of all the surgeons I visited with. He has been the most courteous, empathetic and professional doctor I have met with, and has taken the time to listen to my case and give me a clear explanation of what to expect from surgery. Ultimately I am writing this post to give everyone who read my initial post an update, and hopefully writing this will help anyone who is in a similar situation. Of course I am nervous for the upcoming surgery but I feel like I am in good hands, and I would like to thank everyone on this forum for helping me on this journey.
Take care everyone, and wish me luck!
AJ
-
20 Replies
-
Sounds like a great recovery. Congratulations.
Dr Belyansky is lovely and technically among the most skilled of my colleagues. He has helped a lot of patients.
-
any updates to your recovery?
-
Dr. Belyansky has estimated that the likelihood of recurrence for most of his patients in this situation is somewhere between 5% and 10%. not bad. not as good as the sub-5% for mesh repairs, but as we all know even those can fail. he also told me he doesn’t place any restrictions on his patients after removing mesh and not doing any other repairs when no hernia is present.
-
I wonder, is scar tissue strong enough to prevent future recurrences?
-
he means the mesh causes scarring and fibrosis and there was enough scar tissue left after the removal of the actual mesh that there was technically no longer any hernia present. everything was held in by the scar tissue (‘scar plate’) and the growth that occurred after the mesh was inserted. Dr. Belyansky can peel away the mesh and there is usually enough scar tissue left over from the healing process that an additional repair is no longer necessary.
-
You mean the hernia was not there from the beginning or somehow it closed by itself?
-
Arkj93 thanks for your report and wishing you the best
-
quote Arkj93:I should add that I did NOT have any hernia repair of any kind performed after the mesh removal. Dr. Belyansky said he did not see a hernia there so he opted to leave it. He did say there is a small risk of re-herniating (about 4%) but I was willing to take that risk in order to be mesh free. This Friday will be 4 weeks post op for me and I’m feeling really good. At around the six week mark I am probably going to start exercising again. There are still some minor pains but each day is better than the last!
i would have to think 4% is amazing considering the liklihood of reherniating even with a properly done mesh repair is probably the same or greater.
-
I should add that I did NOT have any hernia repair of any kind performed after the mesh removal. Dr. Belyansky said he did not see a hernia there so he opted to leave it. He did say there is a small risk of re-herniating (about 4%) but I was willing to take that risk in order to be mesh free. This Friday will be 4 weeks post op for me and I’m feeling really good. At around the six week mark I am probably going to start exercising again. There are still some minor pains but each day is better than the last!
-
Hello everyone!
Thank you all for checking in. My apologies for the late reply, I have been recovering the past few weeks and spending time with my family. I am happy to say that I am doing very well post-removal! Dr Belyansky is an expert surgeon and he and his team took amazing care of me. As far as the surgery went, I am told it took about 1 and 1/2 – 2 hours to complete. When I awoke from surgery there definitely was quite a bit of pain from the robot working inside and some difficulty urinating (which ultimately passed). I spent about five days at the Hackerman-Patz house across from Anne Arundel Medical Center before returning home. Dr Belyansky was able to remove almost all of the mesh except for a small sliver that was too close to the femoral vessel, and a portion of the genitofemoral nerve was removed as it was attached to the mesh. I was definitely nervous about the removal surgery especially since I had read mixed things on the internet, but I must say I am extremely happy with the results. No longer do I have any foreign body sensation in my groin and the nerve pain is gone. I finally feel like my body is healing itself from having the mesh inside for so long. For anyone who is considering mesh removal, I cannot recommend Dr Belyansky and his team enough. They were professional, courteous, empathetic and helpful and took care of me the entire time. Although each case is different, I feel that the outcome is best when choosing an expert surgeon such as Dr. Belyansky (or someone else who has removed a lot of mesh)!
If anyone has any questions for me please let me know and I will try to respond as soon as possible.
Happy Holidays!
-
Hey fellas, it seems we are combining two different threads here or something. This one is about our brother Ark and his removal w/ Dr. B. Let’s hope for his full recovery.
-
quote Julian:How was your mesh removed and how was the repair done..lap or open ? did the surgeon cut any nerves ?
I ended up losing my ilioinguinal and iliohypogasric but that’s nothing compared to the pain I was living with. Dr Brown opened me up along the scar from my last lap surgery 15 years ago, took the mesh out (which had become distorted inside of me and wrapped around my spermatic chord, also the first surgeon put a suture through my nerve) and sutured me up with silk. All the bruising has finally gone away after two weeks and the only pain I feel now is when I roll over on my right side.
-
quote MeshMangledMerritt:Silk Sutures no more mesh. I’m feeling fantastic brother absolutely fantastic! Still some pains but nothing constant like I did have
How was your mesh removed and how was the repair done..lap or open ? did the surgeon cut any nerves ?
-
quote chip29:Arkj93 I hope the surgery was a success. I am considering mesh removal with Dr Belyanski also. How is your recovery going. If there was a hernia present after removal did he put in new mesh or perform a tissue repair. Thanks
Silk Sutures no more mesh. I’m feeling fantastic brother absolutely fantastic! Still some pains but nothing constant like I did have
-
Arkj93 I hope the surgery was a success. I am considering mesh removal with Dr Belyanski also. How is your recovery going. If there was a hernia present after removal did he put in new mesh or perform a tissue repair. Thanks
-
Totally agree that Dr. Belyansky is courteous, empathetic and professional. He definitely takes his time and really listens. He is deemed one of the best by his patients and colleagues alike. You are in good hands! Like others have stated, recovery will be slow so please rest and give your body time to heal. Your future depends on it! Best wishes
-
Ark, best of luck. I think you are in great hands w/ Dr. B. I am glad you were able to visit him after all. Here’s to you and your future, hoping for all the best.
-
Good luck Arkj93. The recovery process can take a long time, as I’ve mentioned in other posts. I am two years out and still getting better, but am much better off overall. I can lead a normal life now, and am doing so, but the terrible experience and all of the effects it had on other members of my family, will be with me forever. Take care, and go slowly in your recovery. Slow and steady, to give the damaged areas time to adjust and rebuild.
-
quote Arkj93:Hello everyone and thanks for reading my post.
This Friday, 11/15 I am having my mesh removed by Dr. Belyansky in at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. Since having my mesh put inside me in May 2018 I have been having problems with chronic pain and foreign body sensation (link to my original post https://www.herniatalk.com/11388-my-mesh-story-and-questions-about-removal). Since then I have visited with my PCP and five surgeons, including the implanting surgeon, and Dr Belyansky. Many doctors seemed dismissive of my case or told me that the pain would disappear with time, but Dr. Belyansky seemed to think that the mesh was the problem after I had finished telling him what I was feeling. When I visited with him in August of this year he ordered a CT scan and when that was returned, he said the mesh was clearly placed around my spermatic cord and would need to be removed, with the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve as it was likely trapped in the mesh and causing me pain. Thus far my experience with Dr Belyansky has been the best out of all the surgeons I visited with. He has been the most courteous, empathetic and professional doctor I have met with, and has taken the time to listen to my case and give me a clear explanation of what to expect from surgery. Ultimately I am writing this post to give everyone who read my initial post an update, and hopefully writing this will help anyone who is in a similar situation. Of course I am nervous for the upcoming surgery but I feel like I am in good hands, and I would like to thank everyone on this forum for helping me on this journey.
Take care everyone, and wish me luck!
AJ
Keep us posted. I’m considering the same with Dr. B. I’m not in much pain at the moment and mainly it’s a foreign body sensation for me at this stage, so I can’t decide. But he’s definitely the guy to go to. Best of luck. I would definitely be interested in following your recovery process and if you have much improvement.
-
I would recommend getting a non mesh repair for this removal ..not sure if that’s your plan already
Log in to reply.