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Chronic pain and recurring Hernias
Reading your post sounds so familiar. I had no idea at the beginning of this journey that I would have been in pain for 2 1/2 years and have had five surgeries. The first surgery was a hysterectomy that I really didn’t need, but the thought was that my pain was being caused by my large uterus. When that wasn’t successful, I went to a general surgeon who suspected that I had a hernia or perhaps a sports hernia (I used to play tennis before all this). I had repair of a femoral hernia and also the mesh was placed to cover a torn muscle/ weakness. Well the pain continued and I decided to travel to see a specialist (wish I had seen one to start). I went to see Dr. Heniford in Charlotte, NC, who recommended I go to Annapolis, MD to see Dr. Igor Belyansky, because of nerve pain. As soon as we met with him, I knew he would be the one to help me. The first surgery with him was a triple neurectomy, which helped with tingling and burning, but didn’t resolve my real pain. He started small and said he could do mesh removal if necessary. He suspected that the mesh to fix my femoral hernia was also covering the torn muscle that was causing my pain. He said that if you cover a torn muscle with mesh that you still have a torn muscle that needs to be repaired. I had surgery 2 months later, July 2014, to remove mesh and tacks laparoscopically and open repair of the sports hernia. Things were going along well and I started PT 8 days after surgery to strengthen my core. Ten weeks into PT I started having similar pain on the right side, even though I was in complete denial at first, I knew what it was. Another setback 2 weeks later, I fell down some stairs and reinjured the left side. Lots of swelling and increased pain on the left side, so we waited 3 months and had MRI, which didn’t show the torn muscle or the problem on the right. I am so thankful that Dr. Belyansky believed me and was willing to help me. I refused to believe that this pain was my new normal! I had surgery end of February, open on both sides, to fix a torn muscle next to the repair on the left (probably due to the fall) and a hernia with protrusion and nerve entrapment (another neurectomy) on the right. While the recovery has been very painful and discouraging at times, I am starting to feel better. Doing PT is very helpful and also helps with scar tissue. I know I will keep getting better! Don’t let anyone tell you that hernia pain is something you just have to live with. I know that is something that Dr. Towfigh has stressed on this forum and it is great advice. Seek out a specialist that believes you have pain from a hernia, even if that means traveling. Dr. Belyansky is 4 1/2 hours from home, but well worth it. Luckily Anne Arundel Medical Center has a hotel of sorts, that is run by the hospital, and is right across the street and the perfect place to recover! Sorry for the book, wanted to get my point across to try to help others.