Reply To: Looking for Advice

[ajm222]

You sound like a lot of us here – you’re not totally disabled but the results of the surgery have left you less than before, which is always very discouraging. Plus you potentially have some autoimmune issues. The former honestly was ultimately enough for me to get removal, along with a number of other folks here who are generally happy they did. I did not want to spend the rest of my life suffering daily even in a fairly mild way if I didn’t have to. It is exhausting. I was still running several miles, a few days a week. But it didn’t feel pleasant or ‘normal’. And I had a lot of strange sensations that were very disconcerting in certain positions. I had decided the mesh was the cause of my issues and I wanted it out. But I was terrified of removal, and it took me a lot of appts and time to finally do it. Once it was out, I still actually had issues, but I wasn’t worse, and I was also very happy the mesh was gone. After a long time healing I finally got to a place where the tightness and discomfort were much improved and are often totally gone. So I am still happy I had the mesh removed even if I’m not 100%. I am 2 years out from surgery. Took me 3 full years to make the decision on removal. I also had progrip mesh. I actually appear to have a recurrence of some kind and have a surgery scheduled Monday for a tissue repair that I am hoping tightens things up and improves them further even if it means another setback and lengthy recovery. Another forum member also had progrip mesh removed after about 6 months after reading about my experience. He then got a tissue repair later, and now he’s basically back to normal. He was also able to do things normally, but he said it just sucked because there was always that pain and discomfort.

In your case it hasn’t even been 6 months. There is a chance things will improve. I know when I was relaxed and not as stressed, the discomfort lessened a lot. I think I have a lot of tension in my pelvis and the mesh just didn’t agree with me. But I did have times when I felt much better that I attribute to my core being very relaxed. I also think there is a tendency to read about autoimmune issues and start to blame everything on the mesh when maybe it’s something else or nothing. That said, after this amount of time the likelihood that your issues will totally fade away are probably growing slimmer. It may be worth it to give yourself another 6 months and see what changes occur and then make a decision. But I do think removal should be on the table. I think the percentage of people worse off is pretty small. Even if you’re not immediately appreciably better, psychologically you will feel some satisfaction. And later you can still get an open tissue repair if needed (though usually there is enough scarring at first to not immediately need anything else done). If your original hernia was small and uncomplicated and indirect, and you choose a very reputable removal surgeon to remove the mesh lap or robotically, you will likely be fine.

There are I think other options in which a surgeon can go in and see if there’s something wrong with the mesh. I did have a friend where this was the case, and he claims to be fine now. He has no idea what the second surgeon did to fix him, and he struggled even with walking for a good month after that surgery because of a nerve issue, but claims he’s healed. But of course on this forum you will find a lot of folks like me that are more of the mindset that maybe it’s best to just get it out if you’re having complications more than a few months after surgery, and get a traditional tissue repair if needed later and be done with the mesh. It’s a very tough choice though.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  ajm222.