foreign body sensation

[ajm222]

quote Hiway40blues:

Thanks for posting this-very interesting. I have been reading your posts, since I have some of the same issues. I am at @9 months after open surgery, and still have sporadic pains and a feeling of tightness. Speaking of foreign body sensation, I wonder how common it is to ‘feel’ the patch of mesh in your groin when you lie down at night. I sleep on my back, and when I lie down it seems I clearly feel the patch, under everything else.

given that your repair was open, that is probably more likely than it is with a laparoscopic repair as it’s on top of the muscle and not underneath it. it’s my understanding that the lap method puts the mesh in an area that’s less likely to have that sensation. still possible perhaps but unlikely. and dr. belyansky said that younger people tend to have a higher likelihood of being able to feel the mesh. but i imagine over time that probably often goes away as your body incorporates the mesh and sensations evolve and neuronal connections are reduced or eliminated. i think in my case, upon further reflection, i’m not really feeling the mesh. just feeling changes within the body that have resulted from either the surgery or my response to the surgery or both. and i think it’s something i can probably ignore that i hope will fade over time. i tend to be very sensitive to these sorts of things and i think i’m noticing things and reinforcing things that most people would have ignored.

i think tightness, so long as it doesn’t go hand in hand with pain at all times, and doesn’t seem to be impacting digestion or other bodily functions, is something that isn’t serious and should get better over time as things change and evolve. though i will be the first to admit that when i am feeling particularly stressed out and focusing on this stuff more, even tightness can be very stressful when you worry it will never go away.

[Hiway40blues]

Thanks for posting this-very interesting. I have been reading your posts, since I have some of the same issues. I am at @9 months after open surgery, and still have sporadic pains and a feeling of tightness. Speaking of foreign body sensation, I wonder how common it is to ‘feel’ the patch of mesh in your groin when you lie down at night. I sleep on my back, and when I lie down it seems I clearly feel the patch, under everything else.

[ajm222]

Just a quick update. Went to see Dr. Belyansky yesterday. About a two and a half hour drive north. He’s super nice, seems very bright, and has an excellent bedside manner, just as Jnomesh had said. He’s a young guy, too (I think he’s basically my age – around 42 or 43). I think he also does a lot of bariatric surgeries from what I could tell.

As a reminder, I spoke with his office in the middle of last week and they scheduled an appointment for yesterday – so less than a week later. I didn’t have to wait long at all to be seen once I arrived. I first met with one of his Physician’s Assistants (a woman, can’t remember her name). I gave her a quick rundown of my history and primary symptoms and she did a very quick exam after asking me some follow-up questions.

Then Dr. Belyansky came in and chatted with me. He ultimately probably spent 20-30 minutes with me I think. Side note, he used to live in the same part of town that I live in now when he was in medical school in my city. Anyway, he had already looked at the scans and gave me my first big reassurance – that it appeared to be a very ‘well-placed mesh’ – no shifting or folding or anything like that had occurred since it had been put in. He said whoever did the surgery did a god job. Nothing on the scans looked concerning. I was expecting he’d say he couldn’t tell or couldn’t really see anything, but apparently he could.

I explained my main physical symptoms and concerns and he then did a thorough physical exam. He said no hernias were apparent of any kind (though my left side is a little weak and may or may not herniate eventually someday, but I guess it hasn’t happened yet). He felt around and said that normally people who are candidates for removal have a lot of issues with pain on the exam and I didn’t really have any pain. At one point he was pressing down and I barely felt it and he said that he was actually pressing quite hard and many people with problems wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of pressure. Though I already knew my issue wasn’t nerve-type pain. I then had some follow-up questions myself and some very general mesh and surgery-related questions, and he listened intently and answered those very carefully and thoroughly.

Ultimately he said that (despite the fact he’s usually very successful) mesh removal is a risky surgery and can have lots of unpredictable consequences and the potential for loss of testicle among many other things and that he reserves that for people whose quality of life has been considerably reduced and are experiencing quite a bit of pain and discomfort. He said he wouldn’t recommend doing anything in my case as he didn’t see enough of a reason to consider it. He did say however that (probably because of word of mouth) about 20% of his practice is now mesh removal. He said he does them every week. He said it’s usually due to poor surgical technique, though it depends on the circumstances.

I didn’t really get a clear explanation for some of the more unusual symptoms I’ve noticed from time to time, but he didn’t seem to think it was a concern or at least not related to the surgery or the mesh. He didn’t see anything unusual in my appearance. I will say that now as before some of those symptoms have subsided a bit already since the appointment, leading me to believe that perhaps they are in fact somewhat psychosomatic or at least amplified greatly be stress and worry. I’ve indeed been dealing with a lot of work stress the last few weeks, and I also hit another one of my personal milestones recently as well, where I say I’ll wait a few months more and see how I feel, and then I get there and start feeling worse when I think things aren’t 100% better. I also know I have some symptoms related to my exercise routine (sciatica and groin) and the way I carry myself due to worries about the surgery and mesh.

Anyway, I feel better having seen such a well-regarded surgeon, after being physically examined and having my scans analyzed. Will see how things progress from here. But he said to feel free to see him any time, and if I end up needing another repair in the future, I like that he’s an option. He typically uses mesh for repairs but also understands the problems it can cause, so he seems to offer a nice balance.

[ajm222]

quote scaredtodeath:

Keep us posted and good luck I am hopeful for you

thank you! will do.

[scaredtodeath]

Keep us posted and good luck I am hopeful for you

[ajm222]

Sent my imaging and a letter to Dr. Belyanksy’s office in desperation last week expecting nothing and was surprised to get a phone call today and also find out that a) he has availability to meet with me on Monday, and b) despite being out-of-state he is in-network. Really wish I had known this last year, but despite all my research I just assumed that a doctor in another state would be out-of-network and 10x as expensive. Insurance is confusing. Live and learn I guess, and you can’t change the past. Anyway, will see what he says next week and hopefully he either says all looks great and that I should just give it some time, or perhaps he’s actually able to detect an issue. Not even sure which I’d prefer at this point but glad to have an opportunity to get another opinion from a highly regarded expert.

[ajm222]

quote drtowfigh:

The mesh typically goes no higher than the level between the two protruding pelvic bones in your left and right.

Thank you so much. That’s very helpful. My worry is that these feelings are a foreign body sensation, and a right repair or shrinkage, and at 16 months I’m afraid the ‘tincture of time’ won’t change anything that I’m feeling at this point. Ugh. Going to take a week off from running and see if it helps or hurts. Pain/soreness is very mild. More than anything it’s iust weird feeling like something doesn’t belong, and the tightness (which gets better and worse depending). But I’m also getting some strange feeling much higher up. So maybe I’m just a bit mental.

Just saw a video Dr. Belyansky uploaded to YouTube of a woman who had mesh removed because of complaints about feeling mesh in the groin after laparoscopic placement – a full ten years after. Apparently for her things got somewhat worse and not better.

Odd that I’m having any issues given the robotic lap and progrip mesh. Either I’m imagining things or I’m just unlucky. But I guess it’s complicated.

[drtowfigh]

The mesh typically goes no higher than the level between the two protruding pelvic bones in your left and right.

[ajm222]

also, how far up does the mesh go with a typical 4×6 patch for indirect inguinal hernia inserted via robot? much of my discomfort seems to be coming from my side and higher up than expected. i know that that’s possible but just can’t find good images showing how high up mesh extends typically.

[ajm222]

Considering also giving Zoloft a try again after stopping ears ago as my hypochondria is through the roof and I also think over focusing on the area is amplifying my sensations. Might need to try and turn off those signals for a while and see if that helps. My personality tends to result in very intense responses to things. Could be better than mesh removal or something extreme.