Reply To: Thinking about "proper" evaluation: Chicago specialists?

[Tino_7]

quote UhOh!:

I did a consult with a surgeon in Chicago who says he can do non-mesh but thinks mesh has a better outcome and hasn’t done a non-mesh in about three years (as of last fall). Ultimately I haven’t done anything; mine is still reducible, contains only fat and rarely if ever bothers me. So I’ve left it alone.

Thank you and thanks for the PM.

I’m going to consult with the Chicago surgeon soon.

Also, I consulted with Dr. David Grischkan, Cleveland, last month. He can do open suture repair. On the plus side, he’s done over 20,000 operations and this is all he does, and he has no residents to assist. He is the only surgeon in the room to work on you. On the down side, he’s 9 hours away by car.

The choices in the upper Midwest are few. I don’t know of any surgeon at major medical centers such as UM Ann Arbor, Cleveland Clinic, RUSH University Med Center in Chicago who do non mesh repairs.

A doctor in central Indiana (Greencastle and Indianapolis), Paul Szotek, does different types of repair including open non mesh and robotic mesh.

I don’t know enough to choose between the two. I know someone who had robotic laprascopic with mesh in Chicago and is doing great. I know someone who had the same in Raleigh, N.C., who five years later still has issues. I guess with robotic, you bounce back faster. With open, you don’t have to worry about mesh migration or immune response-rejection.

Dr Grischkan reports a failure rate of < 1% and says his method is superior.

On a side note…..

I want to start a new thread here, but cannot find anyplace on the forum to begin a new topic. How do I do that?

Thanks!